Category Archives: Events

Hey, Where Were The Long Lines? – Googa Mooga 2013

Update: Googa Mooga just announced they are releasing more General Admission & VIP tickets today at the box office. So if you can handle a little rain and want to get in, head on over to Prospect Park. Kool & The Gang is headlining today guys!

Update #2: Nevermind. They just cancelled Googa Mooga over a little light rain. This really sucks for all the vendors, especially after a somewhat disappointing first two days. sorry that I didn’t have a chance to finish shooting it.

I’ll get to the food in a bit, but let me start by saying that attendance seemed WAAAAAYYYYYYYY low this year. From an attendee standpoint, this is a good thing, from a vendor standpoint, this is really bad. And next year means far fewer vendors will be inclined to have a booth there, even though they added additional vendors this year over last – an issue they thought would help remedy the problems of long wait times this year. This clearly wasn’t really an issue last year.

From an attendee’s point of view, this event was much improved over last year. The setup on the right of the main stage was set up differently. They moved the row further from the stage and put a row behind the other. Last year, lines for food ran into the stage area where people were watching the bands play. They were unruly and ran wildly through the field. This year, that was better, again for attendee’s. For vendors on that side, they seemed a little lost in the stagger especially over the vendors on the opposite side which was setup exactly as it was last year. Still though, the crowd was incredibly thin this year. Perhaps because of the weather? Perhaps because of the added day? Perhaps because the venue cut attendance from last year?

But from what some of the vendors were saying Saturday, Friday’s turnout wasn’t really that great either. At least not from a food sales perspective. Saturday was ok, but not great. Not what they were told to anticipate for by event organizers. On vendor I spoke with told me that the organizers told them to prepare for 4000 units to be sold over the 3 days. By the end of the second day they’d only sold a little over 1000 units. And this was a vendor that had far more press for the event than most other vendors.

The top photo was taken from 2012. Lines stayed pretty swamped all day long. The bottom photo is the line (or lack there of) from this year.

I’m not saying that this event is only successful if starving masses have to stand in line for 2 hours for a hot dog. But what I am saying is that there is nothing wrong with a little wait. 20 minutes wouldn’t kill anyone and hell, how long would you wait on a Saturday afternoon for a table at brunch?

I’d like to chalk it up to just being a shitty day and hopefully Sunday would be better. The forecast for Sunday, though, is worse that what today was. It would be nice however, seeing as GoogaMooga obviously has everything buttoned up quite nicely this year, if they’d would open up General Admission to more people tomorrow. I didn’t win tickets during the lottery, however, my girlfriend did. So I’m curious how many others out there they turned down. I’m sure the vendors are curious too.

More importantly, I want to know what the deal is with this guy?

From the outside looking in, this festival was pretty great today. The music was non stop on two large stages, there was no wait for most places, the bathrooms were slightly cleaner and there was plenty of room to move around. Here are some highlights from day 1.

The Mamacita Arepa from Caracas

Whiskey Bread from Gwynnett St.

The Egg Begley Jr.

Grilled Lobster at The Lobster Place

Jerk Chicken from Ms. Lily

Arancini from Eataly

Ribs from Joe’s Pub

Googa Mooga Crowd

Pokr Belly Tacos from Colicchio & Son’s

Lamb at Back Forty

Backstage at Collicho & Son’s

Justin Warner & George McNeese

Foie gras jelly doughnut from Do or Dine

Chef at Maison Premiere

Grilled Oysters at Maison Premiere

Rabbit & Snail Paella

BBQ at Googa Mooga

Pork & Cheese Sausage from DBGB

Duck Corndog from James

Garbanzo, Brussels Sprouts & Cabbage from Rosemarys

Kimchi with Cold Sesame Soba Noodles

Lobster Roll from Luke’s Lobster

Foie Gras Hot Dog from Prospect

What the people need for hurricane relief – Cleaning Supplies

This is the situation in most places helping out with Hurricane relief. They don’t need clothes, most of these are going to end up in a landfill.

The canned food situation is out of control at most facilities if not all. They don’t need canned goods. Prepared food situations are even worse. Find out what they need and send that, and that only.

I spent the day on the ground today in The New Dorp Beach area of Staten Island. Yesterday I spent the day in The Rockaways and I’ve come up with a list of things I know that people need. There is some consistency between all of the places, outposts and ad-hock stands on what they need and I can imagine that every location is like this as well. I can tell you that they definitely DON’T need water, food and clothes – in fact, these things are a problem now and if you even try to bring them to Staten Island, Rockaway Beach and probably every other location you will find they will be stuck with a ton of clothing. All places excepting donations are turning away clothing at this point. This is a major point – your efforts will seriously be thwarted if you accept clothing.

Pet Food is a necessity, for sure, but I’m sure they will get to a point that they don’t need it soon.

The biggest things you can gather for them and send are:

Cleaning supplies – Bleach, Ammonia, Mops, buckets, brooms dustpans, and Contractor Bags. Paper Towels & Shammies, Disinfectant wipes

First Aid stuff – neosporin, aspirin, tylenol, ibprofen and other OTC drugs, nasal spray

Batteries, Flashlights

Tarps, granny carts, shopping carts, wheelbarrows to transport goods to homes.

Faces masks and respirators,

Gas, & Gas Cans (ideally filled with gas). Generators.

One big thing that they could really use is for people to make runs to PA to get gas. The lines here are ridiculous. ~~Also I read that Bedford Union Armory. 1579 Bedford Avenue was giving out free gas (10 gal, max pp). Not sure if that spot is still setup, but worth a try.~~
turns out this did not work out as planned. Head to PA or CT for your fuel needs.

Take cash donations as well and turn it into cleaning supplies and lowes or home depot.

They also need working hands down there, ready to get dirty. You should come dressed warmly in layers, wear work boots bring work gloves. Cleaning supplies are severely limited, so bring your own. You will NOT be serving or making food – those jobs are taken.

Donations of these type can be dropped at St. Jacobi Church 5406 4th Ave @ 55th Street in Brooklyn. From there it will get dispatched out to The Rockaways and Staten Island. If you want to volunteer to do the dirty work, you can meet at this location and be picked up and get a ride back to The church.

#OccupySandy

This is the only picture I took of Rockaway Beach today.

first of all sign up at recovers.org and head down to 5406 4th Ave @ 55th Street in Brooklyn tomorrow to volunteer. You can hop in a car to many of the relief outposts in the rockaways, coney island, sheepshead bay, and staten island. there are probably more, but you’ll definitely be helping out in any way you can.

A lot can be said about the Occupy Movement. Many people have harsh words to say about them and their mobilization efforts on Wall Street in NYC over the last year or so. But nothing is nearly as inspiring as what they have done for Hurricane Relief Efforts for Hurricane Sandy. I was on the ground today in the capacity of handing out food to people who need it. Last night my girlfriend and I spent the evening cooking food. I can tell you the best thing to do is volunteer. Bringing food is great, but make sure its food that is best served cold. A hot meal is very difficult right now without power. Keeping things warm is even harder.

I spent a lot of time taking notes and finding out what people need. Everyone needs power, but that is really beyond our control. Here’s what I’ve learned so far today.

Please share the hell out of this so we can get information to people who need it. Follow me on twitter as I will update where and when I can. Most important things need I can think of off hand are:

diapers, soap, shampoo, batteries, generators, gasoline, water pumps, batteries, flash lights blankets.

The rest below I’ve been passing around through various social networking channels tomorrow I’ll be on the ground in Staten Island coordinating and assessing needs.

I took a lot of notes and there need to be note-taking boots on the ground who can quickly communicate with people about immediate needs and report back to distribution centers.

Biggest needs as far as food:

Prepared foods that can be eaten cold, b/c it is quite difficult to get hot food to people. There is no way to reheat out in these location. Pasta salads, potato salad, Sack lunches are the bomb. Someone sent over 4 ikea bags filled with a typical sack lunch – PB&J, Chips or crackers, Hard Boiled Egg, Juice Box, & fruit. They are super easy to distribute and have a longer shelf life. As far as food, we do have the benefit of it being cold outside, but that is not a benefit for people who have no homes. There aren’t a lot of ppl sleeping out on the street in Rockaway, a lot of neighbors have taken them in. some have moved out. But the streets are lined on both sides with mud and all their belongings trashed.

Other big needs:

Generators and Gasoline
Toiletries, such as tooth paste and tooth brushes
Coffee (instant is probably best)
Paper & Pens & Markers (shelters really need this to label stuff that comes in)
Shovels, water pumps, Batteries
BLANKETS
Pet food is one big one, a lot of ppl have animals. Request today for dog food, cat food & even hamster food

There is an outpost setup on Cross Bay Blvd & 95th in the Rockaways. Contact Amanda – she’s been there everyday and will continue to be there. She is a life-long resident helping her neighbors. Her number is 718-536-9587. Also there is a woman Named Heydy (heidi) with an organization called Caring Foundation who’ve been passing out food, and hot drinks among other things. Heydy’s number is 917.683.2169. People have been dumping supplies out there all day. It’s a big pile of stuff and could use some organization. Also, if it rains all that stuff is going to get ruined.

Pastor Williams of St. Johns Baptist Church 7405 Rockaway Beach Blvd (@ Beach 75) badly needs a generator and gasoline and blankets. You can contact him at 718.644.8151 to asses immediate needs.

Smorgasburg Labor Day Weekend

Finally made it back to Smorgasburg in Williamsburg for the first time since the beginning of the summer. I love that the vendors keep changing and there is always something new to see there as well as the usual suspects and favorites. New to the fold, that caught my eye was Brooklyn Piggies and Honcho’s Tacos, both of which have much more inviting “tent-fronts” than a majority of the other vendors. Not that there food is bad, but presentation is just as important as having amazing food. Dough also executes this nicely. Yuji Ramen was different and inventive. And Hash Bar brings breakfast food to Smorg – Love it. Sunday Gravy is stepping it up by offering cute little Brushetta’s while Brooklyn Oyster Party shucks fresh oysters in the sun. The award for most beautifully styled storefront goes to Brooklyn Grange – thanks for bringing a little mini farmers market to Smorg (although, there used to be a farmers market there anyways, if I remember correctly from last summer). Photos below

Dough Doughnuts

Sugar Doughnuts

Hibiscus Dougnuts

Veggie Dog from Asia Dog

Hash From Hash Bar

Hash from Hash Bar

Jersey Cow – 100% grass-fed, grass-finished braised chuck roast with Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze white cheddar from Home By the Range

Bruschettas from Sunday Gravy

The Sunday Gravy from Sunday Gravy

Bacon & Eggs Ramen from Yuji Ramen

Oyster Sandwiches from Brooklyn Oyster Party

Shucking fresh oysters at Brooklyn Oyster Party

Brooklyn Grange Produce Stand

Victor’s Famous Empanadas

Empanadas at Victor’s Famous Empanadas

Chonchos Tacos

Fish tacos at Chonchos Tacos

Brooklyn Piggies

Pigs in a Blanket at Brooklyn Piggies

Extra Mooga refunds now offered

Announced on Googa Mooga’s site today, Extra Mooga goers will be offered a full refund for their sad experiences. According to Peter Shapiro, “We promised you a terrific Extra Mooga experience this past weekend and we didn’t deliver, particularly in providing an adequate amount of food and beverage on Saturday. We’re very sorry if we disappointed you.”

I think its great that they recognized the problem and are rectifying it. Therefore they will be offering full refunds. I didn’t pay for my Extra Mooga Tickets, but even if I had, my experience on sunday was really good and I wouldn’t be requesting a refund right now. How about you? Was the Sunday experience that bad or was it just Saturday?

Behind the Scenes and The Extra Mooga Experience at The Great Googa Mooga

Was Googa Mooga a bust? Was Extra Mooga worth it? Was this whole thing overhyped and did it under-deliver? Well, the internets tell us conflicting stories, and I guess its up to the individual to decide. Here’s a blow by blow of my experiences, and especially of the Extra Mooga.

GM was massive – bigger than I thought it was going to be and probably bigger than even the organizers or vendors expected considering the first day hurdles that the organizers seemed to try to quickly remedy. The first day was very difficult because there wasn’t much clear about where to go and what to do and I had missed the press event that probably clarified a lot of those questions for me. But eventually I figured out how to get around and avoid the crowds and was able to get to shooting. I had EM tickets for Sunday, thanks to the awesome folks at Rubenstein, so I had to get the majority of the vendor shooting done on Saturday. My goal was to shoot every vendor, but seeing as it was only 3pm and vendors were running out of food, I had to pick and choose. I particularly frown upon the vendors that run out of food, most of them should know how these things go at this point and be well prepared, nah, over prepared. But yeah, whatever, there were so many vendors that there were still an incredible selection available. My biggest point of contention was that there was a serious lack of vegetarian options – everyone was doing meat, meat, meat, but there was no representation for the herbivores and omnivores among us – it would have been less of a deal if I wasn’t keeping the company of a vegetarian. Still though, it must be said, these vendors did such an amazing job keeping up. Here’s a look behind the scenes at what these guys did to keep the food coming.

cocktail preparation at the boathouse

not sure what they were, perhaps gin, lemonade, sea salt – amazing, whatever they were.

cooks preparing cranking out the Pat LaFrieda Burgers

You can’t eat just one

Pat LaFrieda – perhaps the most important butcher in NYC. His meat is amazing (let the jokes begin).

I dare you to not love Pat LaFrieda’s burgers!

LaFrieda slow cooked a cow overnight

LaFrieda slow cooked a cow overnight, here he’s cutting up the cow for Extra Mooga guests

Chef James Tracey working the grill cooking pork belly for Colicchio and Son’s.

Pork Belly at Colicchio and Son’s

The lines at El Olomega

This lady has been making pupusa’s for 20 years. El Olomega, you can find them out at Red Hook Ball Fields on the weekends and the lines aren’t nearly as long.

M. Wells – While a few might be put off by the fact that these guys are serving horse meat, they cannot be accused of offering mediocre cuisine. M. Wells has always been very inspiring with their menu. Can’t wait till they get a new spot!

Making a massive batch of Paella.

Paella

Extra Mooga Events and Entertainment
The big sell on the Extra Mooga is perhaps the events. I found that with the amazing lineup, it would be well worth the cost. I wasn’t there for the Saturday debacle, but it seemed like most of the problems were resolved come Sunday. My only complaint is that there was obviously time to stagger these events so I could attend more. I found it hard to get from one to the other in enough time. I really wanted to cover the John Dorey Oyster Shucking but by the time I got there, they were out of oysters. The final event, The Big Gay Ice Cream Disco was absolutely amazing. Patton Oswald, Tom Colicchio, and Eddie Huang were hilarious, and I always love seeing Bourdain!

The Extra Mooga Experience (with some extras)- The Great Googa Mooga - Brooklyn, NYC

John Dory Oyster Bar at The Boathouse

Entertainment during Kristen Shaal’s Hot Tub

John Oliver does standup

Liquid Brunch talk in the Spiegel Tent where we learned how to make brunch time cocktails from Julie Reiner of Clover Club and Allen Katz of The NY Distilling Company

cocktails in the Speigel Tent

Silent Disco

The Big Gay Ice Cream Disco

The Great Googa Mooga – Day 1 – Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NYC

It was an exhausting day, but quite thrilling. The lines are long, but that was to be expected. Get your food, head to the lawn and relax. Thats the best advice I can give. I’m working on a much more detailed blog post for this vendor day b/c there were so many. This post is just the highlights for now. Today we will be doing the Extra Mooga. Lets see how it compares.

James Fried Cheesecake Bombs

Chocolate and Lemon Ricotta Cheescake bombs from James Fried Cheesecake Bombs

One of the many beverage tents

Guest Googa Moogaing

Pulled Pork Taco from Hill Country

Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken

Lobster Place @ the Chelsea market

Dog with the Works from The Meat Hook

Pizza from Caputo’s

Pesto Rice Ball from Aracini Bro’s

Yummy spicy taco from DBGB

The Burger Experience

The smoke from The Burger Experience area makes the sky look heavenly.

Mini Sliders from Dumont Burger

Chef April Bloomfield on the grill at The Spotted Pig

The Spotted Pigs Bleu Cheese Burger

M. Wells made Bologna and Foie Gras sandwiches

Crif Dogs

Coolio “Ghetto Gourmet” was making Turkey Egg Rolls

Colicchio and Sons making pork tacos

Chicken Wings from Kasadela

People’s Pops

Hamageddon

Porchetta

The Great Googa Mooga Giveaway – 2 General Admission Tickets

Hey everyone,

I’m pleased to announce that I have a great giveaway (my first) on Snap Food. I have 2 GoogaMooga General Admission Passes for Saturday May 19th and Sunday May 20th, which are not easy to get ahold of at this point since the event is sold out. I’m going to make it easy for a chance to win. All you have to do is follow these steps:

1.) “Like” the Snap Food Facebook Page, if you haven’t already: https://www.facebook.com/snapfood
2.) Comment on our Facebook Page that you are entering for a chance to win!
3.) Follow me on twitter @ericisaac – https://twitter.com/#!/ericisaac
4.) Tweet/Retweet about the giveaway and you’ll get an additional entry into the drawing.

The contest will run from 3pm Wednesday, May 16th 2012 till 3pm on Friday May 18th 2012. We will announce the winner at 5pm on Friday. Googa Mooga is an “amusement park of food and drink” and music in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. Read more about Googa Mooga here: http://www.googamooga.com/

Grand Gourmet – The Flavor of Midtown – Grand Central Terminal, NYC

Grand Central, one of the most iconic places in NYC and the quickest way out of Manhattan. For many it’s the landing spot for commuters from Upstate New York, New Jersey and Connecticut who work in Manhattan. It provides easy access to a quick breakfast before heading into work or a business lunch. The last time I was there was on a job on one of the tracks. It was unbelievable hot – about 120 degrees and I spent the entire day on those tracks, sweating and trying to keep cool. After the job was over, I headed home, exhausted, eventually passing out on the couch for several hours. This time it was a much more pleasurable experience. Every year The Grand Central Partnership hosts their annual neighborhood restaurant showcase, Grand Gourmet – The Flavor of Midtown in Vanderbilt Hall. There were a total of 37 restaurants sampling dishes from their menu, beer and wine makers, and other locally made foods – and I tried nearly all of them.

Before I move on, I just want to point out that it is called Grand Central Terminal, NOT Grand Central Station. Seems that TV shows and movies and tourists still haven’t figured that out. OK? Great. Now the pictures. You’ll note that my favorites of the evening are listed at the bottom.

Mini Cupcakes from Magnolia Cupcakes

Cheese from Murray’s Cheese Shop

Beans with Quail Egg Dish from Lexington Brass

Lobster “BLT” from Triomphe

Smoked Applewood Bacon Potato Cake with Filet of Beef and Red Onion Jam from St. Andrews

Octopus Dish from Barclay Bar & Grill at The Intercontinental Barclay

Thai on the Go at Dee Daa.

I have no idea what it was, but it was pretty tasty – The Wheeltapper Pub

Beer from Beer Table

BBQ Pork Slider from Pershing Square Cafe

Blue Point Oysters from Grand Central Oyster Bar

Oysters from Grand Central Oyster Bar

Again not sure what it is, but it was quite pretty – New York Central at The Grand Hyatt New York

And now the highlights…

Duck Taquitos from Silverleaf Tavern

Puffed Rice from Tulsi

Avocado Jal Moori from Tulsi

Corned Beef and Goat Cheese Katafi Cakes with Shaved Fennel, Red Pepper Spice and Saffron Mayo from O’Caseys

Smorgasburg 2012 – Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NYC

I headed down to Smorgasburg on Saturday for the first time of this season and it’s even better than last season. In addition to some of the previous vendors there is a whole new list of vendors. It’s pretty clear that the people who run Smorg are pretty selective as everything seems to be the best of the best. Up this post is food from DuMont, Danny Macaroons, Morris Kitchen, Home By The Range, Schnitz, Takumi Taco, Shorty Tang & Sons, Dough, Mighty Quinn, Tiny Eats Kitchen, Bite Sized Kitchen, Asia Dog.

There is so much at Smorgasburg and I’d love to cover it all, but there is no way I can do it all in one day, so I’ll be back again soon with my camera to discover more of what they have. Until then, I offer you these.