Last year’s show featured many of the same vendors and proprietors as this year, so I will focus more on some of the newer stuff, in addition to the products and items that I found to be personal favorites of the day. For some, I even wrote separate product reviews.
Okay so now it’s photo dump time. I haven’t edited ANY of these photos, so they might be dark on occasion. There were just too many to bother with that bullshit.
I will highlight certain items as I go, like these bottles of ready-made ramen broth by Kubara. They offered shio (salt), shoyu (soy) and yuzu shio (citrus salt) flavors. All were pretty good, but I liked the shoyu (soy sauce) the best. All broths are based in seafood and kelp, but I was blown away by the depth of flavor they had!
Contrast this with Ariake, a concentrated ramen broth, bone stock and sauce vendor. Just add water to dilute and create the goods.
The Chaat Co created these savory yogurt snack cups with puffed lentil toppings based on Indian street snack food. They were really nice, and no excess sugars.
Parm Crisps are pretty self explanatory. Very tasty crackers made entirely from cheese and spice flavorings.
Peanut Punch by YourPanadas was like liquid, milky peanut butter. SO GOOD!
There were some nice shochu vendors in the Japanese section. I liked Window’s un-aged mugiichi best.
This sweet potato “Hebess Cool” was refreshing! Great for summer, or even to mix into a margarita.
More Good was an excellent syrup flavor company for more natural sodas and fountain drinks:
But this one, Cocktail & Sons, had some extremely interesting stuff for making cocktails. The herbs and spices used in the syrup making process were unique and flavorful.
True Made Foods makes some awesome sauces and ketchup. I’m writing a separate review for these products, because I have more than one line to say here. The sauces are naturally sweetened by using other vegetables in the process. Brilliant.
Superior Farms was here last year as well, but this lamb bacon was incredible. I wish I got a pic of the actual bacon.
THREE LITTLE PIGS!!! I’ve seen this stuff in markets before, and always wanted to try. They make amazing mousses, pates, jams, mustards and other sorts of items in that vein.
Imitation caviar?!??!?!? I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. It tasted like fish eggs to me! But it is made using molecular gastronomy techniques.
Brandt offered some excellent beef jerky. I’ll be writing a separate review for this as well, but the texture was tender, and the orange teriyaki was my favorite flavor.
Look at this hunk of wagyu they had in their showcase…
D’artagnan was set up again, this time carving up some delicious cured Mangalica ham:
By the way, here’s a giant sack of pink Himalayan salt that I almost stepped on:
Another highlight of this food show is the baking or pastry sculpting competition that goes on in the back. Check out these entries (I am guessing that the theme was magic):
I think that about covers it. I have some product reviews to write up after all of this sampling. One company, Total Kitchen Safety, is sending me a chain mail, ring-mesh glove for use in butchering meats and slaughterhouses. It is armor for your hands so you don’t cut yourself. I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on that for a product review.
“Meat in the Middle” (4.8% abv) is a rauchbier that’s brewed with slow-smoked NY State barley. What makes it special and “meaty” is that it’s smoked with cherry wood at Brooklyn specialty butcher and sandwich shop, The Meat Hook.
The beer itself is pretty good. You get a hint of that smoke in there, with a malt-forward beer flavor. Very nice. I tried it in a flight of some other goodies. In this photo, it’s all the way on the left:
The porters and dark beers here are really fantastic:
After working up a little buzz, we hopped on one of the brewery tours and picked up some additional info about the brew process:
By then we were hungry, so we ventured upstairs to try some of the sausages that The Meat Hook was selling.
We tried both the Long Dong Bud and the Beet & Onion sausages.
Check out the color on the Beet & Onion. Incredible! It was really nice, and topped with a kale kimchi type of slaw that really made the flavors pop.
Long Dong Bud was topped with some shredded cheese, and a pineapple relish. It definitely had more of a traditional German type flavor profile, other than the relish.
We were torn on which we liked best. I went one way (Long Dong Bud), and Jay went the other (Beet & Onion). In any event, if you can get over to The Meat Hook and try these, I highly recommend them.
Ben Turley, a butcher from The Meat Hook, gave us a demo of how he breaks down a “rear quarter” of a cow – a beef shank (a back leg).
As he explained what he was doing, he trimmed off various specialty cuts within, like the oyster steak and merlot steak.
Here’s a shot of the oyster steak:
And some various other items like portions of the top round and eye of round.
He parted out the femur bone, too.
The coolest thing about this was that they were just slicing up parts of the lean beef sections and passing it around to eat raw, with just a little bit of salt on top. Awesome!
One of the thicker cuts benefited from just a quick, hot sear:
So this day was basically a dream come true. Good beer, Good food and a dead cow. And Ben basically has my dream job.
On my way out, I picked up a jar of this really crazy banana jam too, from Stagg Jam & Marmalade.
They had a table set up where you could try all four of their jams on crackers. This bacon jam has a hint of citrus and vanilla that really explodes with flavor.
ROCKAWAY BREWERY
46-01 5th St.
Long Island City, NY 11101
I recently took a trip to Disney with my wife and her family. There’s actually some pretty decent places to eat and good snacks to try if you know where to go. Below is a smattering of places and things we had along the way.
EPCOT
The first park we visited was Epcot. We hit a few rides in the futuristic area, and had some popcorn snacks:
But Epcot is known for its “world walk,” which showcases 11 countries and features aspects of their culture and cuisine. This is what we were most excited to do.
Mexico: We had a frozen avocado margarita at a tequila bar inside the pyramid that had tons of different tequilas, mezcals and sotols available. The drink didn’t taste much like avocado, but it was good nonetheless.
Norway: Here, we sampled some desserts and a shot of flavored aquavit from one of the shops. The buildings here are really cool.
The first dessert was a cinnamon roll-up sort of thing. Somewhat disappointing. The second was a troll horn, which was really good – similar to a cannoli but with a creamier filling. Only down side was that the filling didn’t go all the way down into the point of the horn.
The shot was good! It had hints of anise and cinnamon to take off the strong alcohol bite.
We also sampled a meatball that was covered in gravy and topped with cranberries. It was like a Thanksgiving Swedish meatball.
China: By now we were thirsty, so we grabbed a mango and green tea slushy. This was really great. The green tea cuts the sweetness so you aren’t running on a sugar high all day.
Germany: Germany offers good beer, tubed meat and pretzels. It is essentially a Bavarian Oktoberfest all year long here.
We tried the bratworst, paprika chips and some interesting shots – a honey whiskey and a corn flavored liquor. Both very good. The brat was nice and browned on the outside, not simply boiled. It had a good snap to it, and the meat was both sweet and savory.
The town here is full of cool stores for beer steins and mugs, as well as sweets like caramels.
Japan: This pavilion has some cool offerings, and awesome architecture.
We started with a shave ice, which was a bit too icy (not soft).
While there was no ramen, they did have a ramen shirt:
In one of the gift shops you could take a crack at finding pearls in oysters. We saw a few people score. But I wonder what they do with the oyster… I wanted to eat them.
Italy: We recharged a bit here with some espresso. One thing they do here is offer gelato with a shot of espresso floating on top!
We watched some crazy flag tossing show and took in the interesting sculpture and architecture.
Morocco: I would have liked to spend more time here. The architecture was very realistic and looked like a movie set. The food smelled delicious, and the gift shops were filled with cool shit. We had dinner coming up, so none of us wanted to spoil our appetites. Next time, I guess.
France: We had dinner reservations here, so we basically just walked around and took in some of the sights before eating at Monsieur Paul. Check the review if you want. Here is a photo dump of the other shit in the French pavilion:
We didn’t eat, drink or snack at the USA spot, and we basically just walked through the UK and Canada because we were heading to a fireworks show after dinner. Here are some shots of those areas:
UK:
Canada:
HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
Our next day was at Hollywood Studios, formerly MGM. There’s a lot to do at this park, given Disney’s recent acquisition of the Star Wars franchise.
So we ended up having a snack before our main late afternoon meal at the 50’s Prime Time Cafe theme restaurant. They have turkey legs all over the place, and tons of snack and candy joints lining the roads. I didn’t eat much of that junk. The mediocre bites we had along the way were an appetizer sampler and buffalo chicken bites at the Sci Fi Snack Bar, a place that’s set up like an old 1950’s drive-in movie theater. You sit in cars and face a movie screen that plays old B- and C- quality sci-fi movies. Fun!
Our main meal was at 50’s Prime Time Cafe. This place is set up like the inside of a mid-century modern 1950’s or early 60’s home. Lots of round-screen tube television cabinets are playing clips of old shows from the era, and there are sea-foam green appliances and furniture, wood paneling, checkerboard floors, etc. I loved it.
Plus the food was pretty fucking great too. Everything is home-style cooking, like stuff that your grandma would cook for you. I ordered a smoked gouda stuffed pork chop. It was absolutely awesome. Juicy inside, crispy outside, good stuffing. I demolished it.
I also got to try the fried chicken. Same deal – crispy on the outside, juicy inside. A great thigh!
Their PB&J ice cream shake is incredible too. Not too heavy on the PB so that you get instantly full either, as the base is vanilla.
My wife had a great pork osso buco. While I liked my dish better, her dish was fall-apart tender and beautifully plated.
She also had a crazy soda concoction drink with a glowing ice cube, and they sang Happy Birthday to her and gave her a cupcake for dessert.
Check out the mixed plate, with chicken, meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Not bad!
That night, we had some special desserts and snacks as we watched a fucking AWESOME Star Wars themed fireworks show. We came away with some funky Chewbacca steins, too.
The next day we relaxed. We took the day off to rest and regroup our aching feet, and that night we had a nice steak meal at the Yachtsman Steakhouse, which is located at the new(ish) Disney Yacht Club resort.
The following day we went to Universal Studios, which is Disney’s arch nemesis in Orlando. You can check out my commentary on that park’s eats and drinks HERE.
MAGIC KINGDOM
Our final Disney park visit was Magic Kingdom. This is where I finally broke down and grabbed a turkey leg. It was absolutely awesome. It was smoky, crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. It tasted like a good ham.
We picked the meat clean off the bone!!!
Nearby at Gaston’s, they used to sling a pork shank! I wanted so badly to walk around the park with a pig leg in my hand, but they no longer sell them. Instead we tried this slushy that was apple and cinnamon flavored, called LeFou’s Brew. Really delicious:
Dole Whip is also a must at Disney. It’s a soft serve pineapple ice cream thing, the same stuff we had in Hawaii. My wife got a “float” version, which has pineapple juice at the bottom of the cup.
Later on, we had a buffet dinner at Crystal Palace.
For $42 it is all-you-can-eat, and they even have some decent meat carving stations with roasted sirloin and turkey. The star, for me, was the achiote pork. I found a big chunk that was super moist in the middle. Yum.
They also had some good dessert here, in particular the small cube cakes. Key lime pie, cheesecake with Oreo crust, and a berry pie that had the same consistency as the key lime pie but with sweeter fruit and berry flavors. All great. Even the basic sugar cookie was pretty good. The ice cream, on the other hand, was too icy for soft serve.
Despite the pretty good desserts, I think the best part of this meal was that achiote pork, as I mentioned above. Either that, or getting a love-attack by Tigger!
We took pics with all four Pooh characters as they wandered around the restaurant: Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger. I won’t bore you with those. I will say that the people who wear the costumes must be very patient to deal with screaming kids every day.
All-in this was a pretty great food trip. We also had some good stuff (and bad) at Universal as well on the same trip, so check that out too.
Universal Studios theme park in Orlando has a few decent food items worth trying if you happen to be there. There are also some pitfalls as well, so be on the look-out.
There’s some cool shit to see, like olive oil from Genco (The Godfather) and Mel’s Diner (Alice).
If you need a snack, there are turkey legs all over. I didn’t try them here, but I did try them at Disney’s Magic Kingdom – they’re fucking great! They taste like ham. Very smoky.
We actually ate a quick lunch at Richter’s Burger Co. Please avoid this place. The burger quality is that of a frozen patty backyard burger. Terrible. Fries were at least pretty good though. And the shakes were thick, like a Wendy’s Frosty.
Springfield!!! This is the land of The Simpsons, in the event that you have been living in a fucking bubble all of your life.
I was immediately pissed off that I didn’t think to try a Krusty burger after just eating that God-aweful burger at Richter’s. Ugh. Or should I say “DOH!” I was tempted to vomit and make room to try it.
All the show favorites make an appearance.
Lard Lad Donuts is Homer’s go-to place for a forbidden donut. We tried a pink with sprinkles (the iconic one from the show) and a jelly. Both were on par with Dunkin Donuts.
Duff Beer has a brewery on site, of course.
This next shot is from the factory tour episode, where all three kinds of Duff beer come from the same tubes (Duff, Duff Lite, Duff Dry).
There actually IS a difference between Duff and Duff Lite at the bar. Both are very slightly hoppy, but the regular is a little more robust, while the “Lite” is a bit more citrus flavored.
Harry Potter’s “Wizarding World” is by far the coolest and most fun part of the park, for me at least.
You can get all sorts of flavored sodas at this one stand:
Or you can try the famous butter beer, which is similar to a cream soda, only sweeter and a bit savory as well.
This joint had some other shit:
Below is a shot of the fishy green ale, a citrus and blueberry drink.
This is a frozen butter beer – essentially a butter beer in slushy form.
Fire Whisky is like a Fireball shot, and Wizard’s Brew is like a Guinness. Not sure what the other shit is.
We ate a quick snack at The Leaky Cauldron, a better than average British food joint that’s set up like a really old tavern.
This is a kids meal fish and chips. Cod. Actually quite good!
This is a plate of two mini pies: cottage pie and fish pie (cottage is essentially shepherd’s pie, and fish pie is like a pot pie with cod, salmon and veggies inside).
New York City can’t really compare with Europe when it comes to old establishments that have been slinging drinks for centuries, but it certainly can hang when it comes to restaurants.
Delmonico’s Steakhouse (94*/100) is rumored to be the world’s very first fine dining restaurant (year 1837). The restaurant, at the time, innovated many dishes that are now well known and popular, like Chicken a’ la King, and Lobster Newberg. They are also the namesake of the “Delmonico” cut of steak, which is typically a boneless rib eye.
Fraunce’s Tavern is a very old joint, dating back to 1762, which is actually now a Revolutionary War museum. It was the location of George Washington’s farewell/presidential address, and later his funeral procession, but it may have shuttered once or twice between then and now.
McSorley’s Old Ale House is NYC’s first Irish bar, and it is a place known for limited options. For example, the clientele was limited to men from 1854 until 1970 when it was forced to allow women into the bar. Their motto was “Good Ale, Raw Onions and No Ladies.” As far as beer goes, you can either have dark beer or light beer. You get two mugs that are mostly filled for the price of one beer, mostly because it is faster to pour two half-assed mugs than it is to properly pour a full mug while waiting for the head to settle. While there, you should man-up and try the liverwurst and onion sandwich. If you’re really feeling manly, spread some of that super spicy dijon mustard onto the bread, which is usually sitting at each table.
Pete’s Tavern is the oldest continuously operating establishment in NYC. It opened in 1864 and has not closed or switched locations since. Great fun things to see in here, like the cash cage:
Old Town, which is just down the street from Pete’s, is one of NYC’s oldest and most awesome bars. It opened in 1892 and has remained relatively unchanged since. The beautiful high tin-patterened ceilings beckon you to a time when things were less technological and more raw. They also put up a pretty solid burger.
Chumley’s – may it rest in peace – was an old speakeasy buried in a Barrow Street courtyard in NYC’s Greenwich Village. While not as old as some other joints on this list (1922), it has great character. Trap doors, hidden stairways and secret hallways allowed for covert gambling and drinking during the Prohibition era. Rumor has it that the term “86” originated when unruly guests were escorted out the second Bedford Street door, which held the address “86 Bedford Street.” The place recently suffered a collapsed wall and has been closed and undergoing repairs ever since. Apparently it will stay closed, however, since neighbors living in the courtyard had been complaining about the noise emanating from the tavern for decades.
Keen’s Steakhouse (96*/100) was established in 1885 as a men only club (an off-shoot of The Lambs Club), but in 1905 a woman (Lillie Langtry) took the establishment to court and won her entry. The bar here is incredible, and the place is famous for having lots of historical memorabilia on the walls, including churchwarden pipes, and for their mutton chop.
White Horse Tavern opened in the west village in 1880 but was known more as a longshoremen’s bar than a literary center until Dylan Thomas and other writers began frequenting it in the 50’s and 60’s. It became a hub of Bohemian culture. It is one of the few major gathering-places for writers and artists from this period that remains open. It has become a popular destination among tourists these days due to that literary history.
Ear Inn was established in 1817 as a housing joint for sailors. Food, beer and whiskey was made on the premises to feed and water the sailors. The bar actually had no name. This “clubhouse” to sailors and longshoremen was simply known as “The Green Door.” Then in 1977, new resident-owners christened the place the Ear Inn. The new name was chosen to avoid the Landmark Commission’s lengthy review of any new sign. The neon BAR sign was painted to read EAR, after the musical Ear Magazine that was published upstairs.
I just posted a shitload of reviews for various restaurants we tried in Key West, but this page is more about the bars and other fun stuff you can find there.
Hog’s Breath: This is a great dive bar with live music and their own proprietary brew. Located in “old town” it truly has a pirate, old timey feel. A definite must-see place if you’re in Key West.
Sloppy Joe’s: this is where we watched the ball drop on NYE.
Captain Tony’s: a very old structure that’s been the home of Sloppy Joe’s in the past.
Margaritaville: the original location of Jimmy Buffett’s lost shaker of salt, where you will find yourself “wasting away again” with a nice frozen margarita…
Chocolate dipped Key Lime Pie on a stick: Try one – excellent! Some are not as good as others, but this “Kermit” one is fantastic.
Willy T’s: This place has money all over the walls for some strange reason, and great live music.
Rick’s: A great upstairs bar that’s set up like a mini village or boardwalk of various watering holes. Tons of fun.
Irish Kevin’s: A good Irish bar with live music. Our friend Kevin, who is Irish, was legit in this place.
Conch Shack: Why not? There are many good seafood shacks in town. We didn’t get a chance to try this one, otherwise I would have written a full review of it.
Unnamed Daiquiri Shack Places: Drink while walking. Do it – they make fresh shit at a lot of these places, and have some local beers as well. Take a look at this bottle of Key West Sunset Ale that I didn’t try for some stupid reason:
The Walgreens Theater: An old theater on Duval Street was converted into a Walgreens. Pretty neat.
Tropic Cinema: There’s an actual movie theater on Eaton Street with a statue of Marilyn Monroe blowing her skirt up. Worth a stroll-by.
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not: A fun diversion from alcohol for an hour.
Southernmost Point: Here, you are 90 miles from Cuba. Take a pic with all the tourists who wait on line to get a shot.
The Smallest Bar in Key West: Very small. Drink a pull and move along down Duval Street.
Key West Cemetery: Go during the day, unless you plan to break in and raise the dead at night. I jogged through on a morning run, and then snapped a few photos at night as we walked by.
Chickens and Roosters: These guys are everywhere in Key West, running all over the place unfettered and unchecked. I guess you can call them “free range.”
Leather Master: Bring out the gimp!
Butterfly House: This is a great place to bring a broad. It’s a greenhouse filled with butterflies, birds and even a flamingo or two (which I suppose are also birds).
Garden of Eden: On the top floor of The Bull bar on Duval, there’s a weird nudist colony of sorts. Go ahead up if you like seeing weird flapjack titties and flaccid dongs.
Art Galleries: Like Lahaina in Hawaii, Duval Street in Key West is full of cool art studios, photo galleries and stores. We liked some of the octopus sculptures and steampunk skulls.
Tree Stump Octopus: I can not remember exactly where this is, but it MAY be Catherine Street.
Drinks by the Dram offers up some amazing holiday gift sets. In particular is their line of advent calendars filled with beautifully crafted glass dram jars of booze. You can choose from whisky, rum, vodka, cognac, tequila, bourbon, absinthe, armagnac, mezcal and gin (original and botanical), along with “premium,” “old” and “rare” versions of some, which contain an even better selection of drams than that which is already inside the standard versions. I can’t praise these guys enough; what they’re doing is ground breaking.
Day 1: Edinburgh Gin – peppery and crisp, florals release when shaken with ice.
Day 2: Filliers Dry Gin 28 – dry, very nice for a martini
Day 3: Hayman’s Old Tom Gin – citrus / sweet lemon botanicals
Day 4: Tarquins Handcrafted Cornish Gin – smooth, medium botanicals
Day 5: Perry’s Tot Navy Strength Gin – Strong as FUCK – difficult to drink near at room temperature, heavy on the juniper/evergreen flavor and aroma, but shaking this up with ice really tames the flavors into a wonderful cold-sipping gin
Day 6: Two Birds London Dry Gin – really smooth and clean, especially when shaken with ice – my favorite so far.
Day 7: Darnley’s View Gin – nice and smooth, even neat and at room temperature – would be great in a martini, slightly peppery.
Day 8: Dangley’s No. 8 Distilled London Gin – good amount of coriander and lemon peel.
Day 9: Ferdinand’s Saar Dry Gin – tasted of slight bitterness and spice, definitely dry!
Day 10: St. George Terroir Gin – strong flavor and aroma of the woods, tree bark, pine needles and sap.
Day 11: Fifty Pounds Gin – this is my all-time favorite gin, and 11 happens to be my favorite number – its dry, has a little spice to it, super clean and crisp – excellent for either sipping neat or for an ice cold martini.
Day 12: Warner Edwards Harrington Dry Gin – so I guess these gins have brand names like law firm partnership names – this one was clean and crisp after a shake with ice, but I wasn’t crazy about it neat at room temperature.
Day 13: Da Mhile Farmhouse Botanical Gin – fragrant with florals on the nose, generous citrus peel / lemon rind and coriander flavors.
Day 14: Elephant Dry Gin – strong, spiced, very nice for dry martinis.
Day 15: FEW Barrel Aged Gin – amber coloring, like a whisky, with a slight whisky flavor to it from the aging process – fantastic gin!
Day 16: Death’s Door Gin 2011 Harvest – taste was clean, crisp and strong.
Day 17: Pickering’s Gin – tasted smooth, crisp and dry, with a hint of juniper and citrus.
Day 18: Hendrick’s Gin – one of my top choices, this is a dry gin that’s excellent for a high quality martini. Unfortunately I let a few days build up so my photo here is from a catch-up day of several gins. And no, I’m not a pussy. I was busy drinking other shit on those missed days.
Day 19: Dodd’s Gin (The London Distillery Company) – taste is heavy with juniper and pine, but not overpoweringly strong in the alcohol bite. Drink with ice or cold.
Day 20: Whitley Neill Handcrafted Dry Gin – this stuff is fantastic. I first became aware of this gin at a bar show in the Javitz Center a while back when I first started drinking gin. It has unique flavorings inspired by African botanicals like gooseberry, cassia bark, angelica root, florentine iris and baobab fruit, as well as the standard coriander, lemon peel, orange peel and juniper berries. The silhouette of a grand baobab tree is actually on the label as their logo. This gin is a surprisingly refreshing new take on the standard style London dry gin. Drink neat if you like!
Day 21: Pinkster Gin – the gin actually has a slight pink hue to it, as you can somewhat see in the image above. It’s really light, at 37.5% alcohol, but with a spicy kick. I drank it neat at room temperature, but I imagine it would be great cold, on the rocks, in a martini or in a mixed drink.
Day 22: Professor Cornelius Ampleforth’s Bathtub Gin – crisp and dry, very nice when taken cold, shaken with ice. Somewhat like a good Beefeater or Hendricks.
Day 23: Citadelle Gin – flavor comes with a nice black peppercorn hit, but with a nice scent of lemon peel on the nose. I enjoyed this neat, at room temperature.
Day 24: Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin – tasted more botanical and bitter than I expected, but the scent was a pleasant citrus lemon. Much better, and more mild, when shaken with ice.
This is just a quick photo dump of my wife‘s insane turkey cake that she made this year for Thanksgiving. Not only does the turkey itself look real, with realistic looking roasted skin an all, but she made side items like broccoli, cauliflower, grapes, lemons, berries, carrots, peas, sage leaves and stuffing as well. Unreal.
Underneath the delicious marshmallow fondant skin was a really soft and moist vanilla layer cake with vanilla frosting. Mmmmm.
UMAi Dry contacted me a few weeks back about their dry aging bags. I was intrigued by some of their promotional materials and video demos, so I told them to send me some samples to try out at home. I already had the sealer for use with my DIY sous vide machine, with which I made some kickass steaks.
Usually when I think about the aging process for steaks, I get overwhelmed and think I could never do it. This is something I should leave to the professionals. I worry about mold, bacteria, rancid meat, wasting money on failed attempts, etc. But with UMAi Dry this otherwise daunting task is boiled down to a super simple procedure. Essentially you just pop a hunk of beef in their special vacuum seal bags, put it in your fridge, and wait 35 days.
So I received my sample bags and ran out to the store to buy a nice rib roast, which I would later parse out into rib eye steaks after the aging is completed. NYC grocery stores don’t really have massive slabs of rib roasts sitting in the fridge section, so I had to ask the butcher what he had. He went to work for me, giving me a section of rib eyes with about four or five bones intact.
I was a bit freaked when I saw the price tag on this fucker. The butcher told me that the beef was prime, but that he only charged me for choice.
I guess that’s a good deal (several dollars per pound cheaper). But still… at $225 it could turn out to be a really fucking expensive mistake if I fuck anything up.
On the other hand, if this nearly 11lb hunk of prime rib eye ages nicely for 35 days, I could end up with several high quality rib eyes that would save me money on steakhouse dinners in the long run.
I took the gamble. I probably should have waited for a sale or something, but I was too excited to get started. About 30 minutes later I was starting the process of bagging and sealing.
I put some wax paper across the bones so that any sharp bits wouldn’t puncture or slice open the bag.
Meat condom:
Once sealed properly, it just goes into the fridge on a cookie rack or drying rack, so that air flow goes all around the bag.
Then we just wait 35 days, with an occasional flip here and there. Here’s a pair of shots after 5 days with a flip. As you can see, the meat is already starting to darken and dry where the bag is in contact with the flesh.
Even darker after another week. It’s forming a “bark”-like layer of beneficial mold that helps to tenderize the meat as it develops.
And another week or so. I notice it’s also shrinking. Dry-aging processes tend to cause the meat to desiccate to the point where you can lose almost a third of the original weight.
After 35 days, here is the unwrapping!
The outside bark, which has the texture of really hard beef jerky, needs to be sliced off of the underlying softened meat, and the tough skin membrane over the ribs needs to be peeled and picked off.
It’s an arduous task, but the end product is totally worth the effort. Here are some shots that my wife snapped of the slicing, trimming and portioning process.
The inside is so gorgeous. This shot looks like angel wings:
A great looking fat cap was still intact. I was worried that I would have to carve off too much of that, but we did pretty good.
I’ve saved all the bark slices to use in making another beef stock or broth at a later date.
I ended up with two thinner boneless cuts, so I seasoned them up right away and seared them off in a cast iron skillet with some butter, garlic and onions (I cut one to fit them in the pan better).
The result was awesome. Perfectly cooked, super flavorful and really well worth the wait! The fat was entirely edible. Very soft and buttery, like beef jelly.
Those were just a couple of small boneless cuts. This cowboy chop was pretty incredible:
Now I’m wondering if I should try this again and just leave the shit in the fridge for several months. The flavor was great on this stuff. It had a nice earthy smell; a well-endowed scent of mushroom or truffle, with a slight hint of blue cheese. Like heaven.
If you’re adventurous with home meal prep, I highly recommend this easy-to-use product. I think I still have a few extra bags, so the next time I have a little extra fat in my bank, I might go in for another dry-aging experiment: maybe strip loin next time.
Final note: if your fridge is generally full, but you still want to age beef at home, I suggest getting a mini fridge, or a smaller dedicated separate fridge, just for beef. Put your temperature setting to about 35 degrees, and get a fan in there somehow to circulate the air. Always keep the beef elevated off the surface on a baking rack or something, too. No special aging bags necessary.
Originally set up by the late meat enthusiast Josh Ozersky, this is the 11th Meatopia event. Meatopia also happens in other cities worldwide, expanding like my belt size after indulging in these delicious meats.
The concept here was pure wood and coal fire, no gas or electric. Just flames and meat carcass. Some shit was done quick on the flames for a sear, and other shit was done low and slow in smokers like these:
With heavy hitters like Creekstone Farms and Pat LaFrieda involved in the mix, you can imagine how excited I was to be here. And without mincing words I will simply say this: Meatopia is the greatest food event I have ever attended in my life.
Upon walking out onto Pier 92, I was blasted with the invigorating scent of roasting meat, and bathed in the billowing bovine smoke that was coming off of the giant Pat LaFrieda fire pit. Heavenly rays of sunlight shone down through the smoke and kissed the meat, as if God himself was proclaiming this to be a righteous undertaking.
What a sight to behold! And nothing was wasted from this animal. As you can see, even the head got picked apart by the savage carnivores that roamed the pier. Even the guys at Gotham Burger Social Club took a bite.
Want to know the most depressing part about the LaFrieda station? I didn’t know this meat was for the crowd. I thought they were providing the meat for all the other stations to use in their dishes, like a supplier of sorts. By time I figured out that I could eat this shit, they had run out. That’s right – they ran out of 1000lbs of meat!!! I was on line for it, five people away from getting a bite, when they finally called it quits on the beast. Not even a scrap!
I did try every other item at the event, however, which is probably a rare claim to make for anyone who attended, I would imagine. There was so much food. I think maybe 30 stations or more. It was very easy to get full if you weren’t smart, or fat.
My first and last stop of the day was this killer broth made by Marco Canora’s “Brodo.” This hearty and hot beef stock was just the right thing needed to keep warm on the windy pier.
As I wandered around with childlike wonder, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the Beatrice Inn station, where Chef Angie Mar was slinging pig for her hungry meat minions. I found myself just staring at this shit. Something deep inside me was triggered. Something primal and cave man -esque…
These not-so-little piggies were roasting on a spit all day and night.
Watch them spin!
So the actual food item being served here was a whole roasted wild boar, blackberries, port and mash. Here’s what a small plate looked like. My photo does it no justice:
This was succulent, juicy, crispy and savory. It had a slight hint of sweet from the berries that made the pig flavors pop. It was one of my top choices of the day, for sure.
Another favorite was Hometown Barbeque. This was a masterful execution of beef rib. So tender and juicy. I know those words are used up like cheap hookers, but they are accurate. The bark on these ribs was crisp without being too hard – just enough to lock in all the meat juices. It had sweetness, but the savory beef flavor was the star of the show.
Occasionally some meat angel would come around and plop one of these dinosaur bones in your hands for you to gnaw on for a while. Some were from Hometown, and some were from LaFrieda.
Another favorite was this sri racha pork belly by The Backroom at Moody’s. I went back for it twice. The belly was cooked sous vide style for 48 hours (okay that probably involves electricity), and THEN smoked. It had a nice pungent flavor that reminded me of fish sauce or Vietnamese food.
They also presented a nice array of charcuterie:
My favorite of the day, just slightly ahead of that pork belly, was this hot beef tongue sandwich by Harry & Ida’s Meat & Supply Company. The meat was so soft, unlike what you might expect from common tongue preparations that can sometimes be rushed, or have the consistency of deli meat.
This was more like pulled meat, or braised stew meat. Absolutely delicious. And they even had a nice tongue hanging on display for food porn photos:
I’m jumping around again here, because I want to front-load this review with the most interesting shit up top, in the event that you meat minions start to nod off, or the ADD kicks into high gear.
CHORIZO ICE CREAM!
There. Did that wake you up a little? It was actually good. These novelty ice cream flavors always strike me as purposefully odd – done with the intent of shocking someone rather than actually delivering a good flavor. But this chorizo ice cream was lightly chorizo flavored, and it was balanced by the presence of caramel. Oddfellow’s is not pulling stunts here. This is good shit.
There was a healthy variety of rib eye and prime rib preparations going around (Hawksmoor London, Andre Lima de Luca and Balthazar, in particular). Never did I feel like the shit was overlapping or redundant. I was actually surprised at how nicely cooked they all were, given the windy conditions and an open flame that is hard to control or regulate in terms of temperatures.
Speaking of those wind conditions causing problems, I think Jason French and the guys at the Ned Ludd station were battling what was probably the worst of the wind conditions. They were one of the first booths next to the large tent in the back. As the wind whipped in from the southwest, it gathered along the tent walls and flowed directly to their station, which was on the south-facing side of the pier. WHAM. The wind over there was bonkers. I have no idea how they were even able to cook in such conditions.
The meat quality of their lamb dish suffered a bit, at least in the plate I had, as it was overcooked and slightly tough. My guess is that these guys were concerned about serving something raw, and wanted to keep the meat roasting despite the wind – so they had to keep stoking the flames. It was still really tasty despite all that nonsense, which is a testament to the chef and cooks. I think if they had more control over the environment this would have been a winning dish: Whole roasted pastured lamb with grape leaf cumin yogurt sauce, and a basmati rice salad with golden raisins and cilantro.
And I was glad to see a nice lamb carcass gracing their work station:
Perhaps the most prominently featured cut of the day was short rib. Check out all the different varieties below:
Tough to choose a favorite between those. If I had to, I’d probably lean toward The Cecil (their veal was really memorable), or Hill Country.
Naturally there was some brisket as well:
One interesting item was this braised beef cheek terrine from Employees Only. Super soft and flavorful. I was hoping to see more cheek represented at this event, but this was really nice with the pickled tomatoes and radishes on top.
The only place featuring strip was El Blok. It as really nicely cooked with fresh turmeric and sour orange, sitting on a side of smoked calabaza.
There was a beef pinwheel sandwich from Brindle Room:
And several other pork and non-beef items, most notable of which was probably this Portuguese porchetta fried rice from 42 The Restaurant – a very interesting mash up of Asian and Portuguese flavors:
Funny thing about that last photo: I was joking that chicken doesn’t really count as meat. The sauce on there was actually really great though, so it became acceptable to serve at this event, in my eyes.
This station sent me home with a packet of Badia spice seasoning. I always like samples!
There was even some dessert as well. I didn’t take a picture of the cookie I ate, but this banana chocolate turnover with maple bacon and peanut butter from Oceana was excellent. In fact their menu looks pretty brilliant, and it’s somewhat nearby, so I will have to go with my wife soon to try it out.
Don’t look so glum, whoever you are working back there in the pit… There’s meat hanging behind you and I’m sure there will be other Meatopia celebrations in the coming months. Can you say MIAMI?!?
That about does it guys. What an amazing day. I don’t want to wash any of my clothes because the lingering smell of smoke and meat is too precious to cast aside. It should somehow be bottled and sold as cologne.
Oh yeah… one last photo – my stalker pic of Iron Chef Michael Symon, who was the host of the event. People were waiting for hours just to press the flesh with him. I was too busy eating for any glad-handing with celebs!
