Ring the Alarm: 100 Mile Brunch @ New York Fire Museum

By: Finance Foodie

The second day (Sunday) of the New York Wine and Food Festival took me to the New York Fire Museum for the 100-Mile Brunch, hosted by Farmer Bob of the Katchkie Farm in Upstate NY. The inspiration for this event was to use ingredients and foods sourced from within a 100 mile radius of New York City - very creative!

Now, to be perfectly honest, whenever I am in New York, I tend to drink too much and sleep too little (because you are only semi-young once). So waking up for an 11am brunch after staying out all night was a fairly (very) painful process, even for an event as cool as the 100-Mile Brunch. But like a true foodie soldier, I dragged my tired behind out of bed and marched (meandered) down to the Fire Museum. Afterall, someone once told me that that the best cure for a late night is a delicious hot brunch!

When I arrived on scene, I was greeted to a large loft like room filled with rows of tables. The scene reminded me of the large (and festive) dinners hosted by my family during Thanksgiving. I was excited!

My first stop was the beverage table, where I spotted a friendly young chap making freshly squeezed organic vegetable juices and blending strawberry banana Ronnybrook Farm yogurt smoothies. The juices were a bit too unsweetened (healthy) for me but the creamy yogurt smoothies hit the spot.

Next, I had Widow’s Hole oysters with cocktail sauce and mignonette, served with an un-Bloody Mary Shot made with tomato consummate and Vodka. I decided to skip the Un-Bloody Mary shot – something about drinking both day and night just screamed college again (and my old tired self cannot handle that anymore!)

The pan seared Long Island Hake (fish) with lemon and parsley seasoning was my favorite dish of the day. The fish was nice and flaky and the seasoning was strong but not overpowering.

Hungry brunchers lining up for food!

Farmer Bob (in the bright green jacket, with Kristen Sofge, the Sponsorship Director of Wine and Food Festival) was a Hollywood lighting guy before he left the city of dreams to become an organic farmer. This former self proclaimed “SoCal yuppie” decided to switch to farming because he wanted to know how the vegetables came to be at the trendy LA organic juice-terias. Talk about a 180 career change!

For dessert, we had yummy fruit ice pops made with organic strawberries, blueberries, and peaches. These were amazing – it felt like I was eating a frozen and not some artificially flavored Yellow No 5 popsicle. What a lovely way to end an already tasty and detoxifying meal!

100% of the net proceeds from New York Wine and Food Festival ticket sales support the Food Bank for New York City and Share Our Strength, organizations that help eradicate hunger in NYC. For more information about these charities and/or to help support these wonderful causes, please visit their websites.