The World’s Fare

The NYC Hot Sauce Expo returns this weekend to heat up the borough once again with 50+ craft hot sauce makers. As always there is far more than the next hot sauce tasting to keep your burning tongue distracted. Aside from their marquee event, Guinness Book of Records Carolina Reaper Pepper Eating Contest, there will be more chihuahua’s under one roof than a Mexican cartoon kennel at the Chihuahua Beauty Pageant. Maybe the most off beat event at any food focused festival we’ve attended. We’re especially looking forward to finding out what the Volcanic Peppers Spicy Pizza of DOOM Challenge is and how we conquer it without killing ourselves. The event list deepens with everything from Hottest Ramen to Slaytanic Burrito contest to the prestigious Hot Sauce Hall of Fame inductions. We covered this back in 2016 and High River Sauces, the event sponsors, growth clearly has been massive, and inherently hot. With two full days of pepper craziness, prepare yourself. Fill your camelbak with some cold milk and pick up a jumbo loaf of Bimbo as you head to Greenpoint for the mouth burning mania. April 14th and 15th from 10am-6pm in Brooklyn.

For 7 years now, The Jamaican Jerk Festival has brought together some of the best in island music and food. In a time where music/food festivals seem to hop the bullet train to corporate run monsters, this little indie festival guarantees true local flavor. Even though the title sponsor is one of the largest producers of West Indian food products, you can’t rattle the “real” out of the 5 borough Caribbean community. This year will be the biggest, best and booyakasha of all years with Barrington Levy anchoring the vibes and a quarter mile of jerk stands to spice up the day. Appropriately hosted by our new home borough in Roy Wilkins Park, take the E train to Jamaica center and then get cozy up on the Q5 bus. We promise a Sunday adventure in sound, culinary and transit. Sunday, July 23rd from 12-8pm in Queens, NY.

Bacon chocolate. Bacon-wrapped corn. Ice cream with bacon bits. At this point, is there any food item that hasn’t been elevated by the addition of a little bit of bacon? You can find out at The Great Big Bacon Picnic, a weekend-long extravaganza in Williamsburg completely dedicated to one of America’s most beloved cuts of meat. Not only will you have the opportunity to sample dozens of the best bacon-inspired bites from top chefs in and around New York City, but it may be the only food festival in the world where the price of a ticket includes access to unlimited amounts of that irresistible cured swine belly of all different varieties. To wash down all that greasy goodness, choose from some of the city’s best local craft beers and spirits. Boom. Guzzle. Ahhh. The good news about this food-and-beverage combination is that bacon sandwiches are one of the best hangover cures. The not-so-good news – we’re not sure if there’s any quick fix for the symptoms of bacon overindulgence. September 24-25 at 12pm in Brooklyn.

You have a long weekend and the weather is unseasonably warm for the NorthEast. A private rooftop cabin in NYC is just a subway ride away. The Greens is where you’re headed. A 65,000 sqft, high rise slice of upstate New York promises the coziest and safest of revelry inside your very own glass cabin. Upfront warning, your weekend visit is going to cost you a touch more than normal. $50 gets you a reservation. Everything you order is an addition but that’s ok because remember, you are paying for the ambiance on this boondoggle. The menu has all the greatest hits for compliance across all the standard eater types. A $28 fondue and a salumi plate top the list of apps for us. Moving into mains, it’s a hard choice between the truffle grilled cheese, fried chicken or a $30 meatball and polenta plate. Don’t sleep on dessert though. Three words. Chocolate. Pretzel. Popbar. Of course, none of this matters if your glass isn’t full. Choices have all the cozies. A solid whiskey collection, a bubbles list, a section they call martini hour, and even a 5 option deep negroni list make decisions tough. As far as we can tell the Autumnal Drinking list is where you start before venturing into all that other magic. Plus, that focus streamlines choices and gets you sipping while you sort the rest of your order. Think hot buttered rum or mulled cider fancied up in YETI drinkware with a $32 price tag, albeit serves 2.5 so we suppose that math is solid. All of this is great but you’re here for the cabin. It doesn’t disappoint. Heated floors, contactless ordering, a Molekule air purifier with a virtual fireplace, and floor-to-ceiling views of NYC for 2-10 guests makes us want to gather up our crew for a round of rapid COVID tests and head to the tip of Manhattan before the chill gets too deep for this to be pleasurable.