Porktoberfest

In a Brooklyn world we love to see Queens getting it’s fair share of glory. After all, we think Queens has a lot more range than Brooklyn’s artisanal, reclaimed wood, farm to table world of new. (Not haters…Just sayin’) Check out what we mean this weekend in Sunnyside with a few tastes from countries you probably forgot had such a strong food culture. Tuesday, May 19 – 5:30pm-8:30pm.

This weekend The World’s Fare comes back to its Citifield home for year two. We loved it last year. It continues to be a heartthrob now with 100+ food vendors representing what we think is almost as many countries. For years we’ve toyed with the idea of a world tour without leaving the five NYC Boros and The World’s Fare brings that vision closer to reality each year. In addition to the culturally focused food, there’s a World Market Bazaar hawking wares from around the globe, international music and dance performances and an international craft brew pavilion boasting 60+ selections. Some of the big hits we’re looking forward to are Balkin Bites, Mangalista and, of course, The Arepa Lady. She’s been a Queens staples for over 2 decades now, or at least it feels that way. Our favorite part of all this is that it sits adjacent to the old world 19xx world’s fairgrounds. A mostly abandoned set of structures often seen from you LIE jitney ride out to Long Island or of Men in Black fame. On the contrary, those willing to explore will find much more than ruins. The Queens Museum has lots of awesome things to see. My favorite is the miniature Manhattan on display. I can stare at it for hours picking out my old apartment buildings and hangouts. We recommend, load up on some snacks and then take a walk over, by the time you get back to the Fare you’ll be hungry enough for your round two. May 18th + 19th from 12pm-9pm at Citi Field in Queens.

From what the organizers have said, The Pizzadelphia Pizza Festival is at least partially to put Philly pizza on the map. Now, as a New Yorker, you know Naples is the only city that even matters but that’s like saying France wins the world cup again. Update: that actually happened. Well maybe Philly is Croatia. Maybe they beat out Chicago in an upset and they are now in the finals. With slices from Pizzeria Vetri, Pizza Brain and the illusive Beddia, the line up is solid and the party is set to sauce mode.   Some of Philly’s best DJ’s make it loud and the Vetri Community Partnership makes it good. If you are a pizza freak this weekend at the Navy Yard has your shirt stain waiting. Saturday, July 14th from 12 to 5:30pm in Philadelphia.

Brooklyn Brewery is seemingly involved in everything. There’s not a weekend where we don’t see them at some awesome event, concert or happening. Their main home being 8 blocks from FTHQ gives us incredible access to their next moves like the launch of Brooklyn Brewery Mash. Taking themselves on the road, pop-up collab style, the guys and girls over at BB decided to mini-tour some of our countries best eating cities and smash it together with their brews. The micro-event format includes events like a free concert at the Philly landmark Union Transfer or rare beer and Chinese food mashup between Brooklyn Brewery Chef Andrew Gerson and the team from Bing Bing Dim Sum. This gives us an HUGE excuse to head to Philly. August 25th – 28th in Philadelphia.