Under turbulent skies, 1,500 food fans descended on Pier 9 for the fourth annual Audi Feastival on Sept. 12, when more than 75 Philadelphia restaurants and bars offered up bites and sips of their unique cuisines, all to benefit FringeArts.
It was nearly impossible to eat everything offered by the acclaimed restaurants on hand, and after repeated attempts to take decent snaps of the beautiful food served, I resigned myself to just experiencing the event without capturing it on camera. The artistic, rapidly changing lighting was an amateur iPhone-tographer’s worst nightmare, but made for quite a show when coupled with performance artists intermittently walking and dancing on a catwalk. I surveyed this scene while reflecting on my first bite of the night, chicken livers with pickled turnips, from my beloved Zahav, while deciding on a plan of attack.
I couldn’t possibly choose favorites from the night, but I’ll narrow it down and hand out superlatives in categories of my own creation.
Buzziest bites:
If you’ve been keeping up with your Philly food news, you know that two long-awaited restaurants recently opened: Noord and Pizzeria Vetri.
The crew from Pizzeria Vetri must have been reading my mind—I always order a basic margherita-style pie at a new pizza place, and that’s exactly what they were dishing up. The crust was crisp yet doughy, the sauce was balanced and the mozzarella tasted like it was made just prior to going in the oven. I was impressed, and can’t wait to try more.
As familiar as I am with pizza, that’s how little I know about Northern European cuisine. But, one bite of Noord’s bitterballen—a braised and fried pork meatball with a grainy mustard—was all I needed to convince me I need to get educated on delicious North Sea fare.
Dish most likely to woo Padma Lakshmi:
In what could be referred to as Top Chef Row, we had season 7 winner Kevin Sbraga serving up steak tartar lettuce wraps, and season 11 competitors Nicholas Elmi (of coming-soon Laurel) serving duck rillette and Jason Cichonski (of Ela) serving pork belly banh cam. I think Padma would appreciate Cichonski taking a now-common item (bao) one step further into territory most of us have yet to taste. Banh cam are traditionally a sweeter pastry from South Vietnam, but Cichonski’s savory take was a winning concept. Set your DVRs—Nick and Jason represent Philly starting Oct. 2 on Bravo.
Resilience in the face of adversity:
As previously stated, Feastival was held at Pier 9, a cavernous industrial building that proved to have some fatal flaws, including an uneven floor (bad for walking around in the dark, glad I wasn’t in heels) and a leaky roof. Granted, no one could have seen it coming, but as Mother Nature started chucking it down outside, the team from Vernick Food & Drink suddenly found themselves, and their food, in an impromptu shower. They acted quickly, with friendly neighbors offering up table real estate so they could keep plating and serving as best as possible, with the biggest smiles on their faces. When I passed back through sometime after the waterworks, I picked up their brandade with peekytoe crab and it was everything creamy-dreamy-seafoody that I love. Based solely on that one bite and their reaction to a major crisis, I know they deserve all the accolades that come their way.
Show-stopping kitchenware:
It didn’t take long to become overstimulated at Feastival—there was too much to see and process while weaving through the crowd, yet at the booth for Verdad I stopped in my tracks. Chef Nick Farina was dishing up seafood paella out of the largest pan I’ve ever seen. A million thoughts raced through my head—how big is the stove to cook that on? How big is the sink to wash that? How many people does that feed? Can I borrow that as a sled?—but I just took a plate and enjoyed it as I slipped back into the madness.
I’m already full but can’t turn it down:
Peppered throughout the aisles of savory bites were sweet spots. Literally. Belle Cakery had a chocolate peanut-butter mousse parfait, Capogiro had a selection of gelato and sorbetto and Eclat offered a range of artisan chocolates, including a riff on my favorite, chocolate-covered pretzels. There was no way I could pass on this taste, especially when I know it’s supremely delicious and made in West Chester with Pennsylvania Dutch pretzels. It was just a small piece, after all. There’s always room.
Did you say ‘tomato popcorn’?:
Typically one dish from any event stands out in my mind, and it’s usually unusual. An ingredient I’ve never had, a cooking method I’ve never heard of or a combination of flavors that is truly unique. For Feastival 2013, I will remember the wagyu beef tongue taco with tomato popcorn from Lotus Farm to Table. First of all, beef tongue—I just saw Bryan Voltaggio make that on Top Chef Masters last week! Secondly, tomato popcorn?! It’s not often you come across crazy-flavored popcorn, especially that tastes just like a summer tomato, but the wizards at Lotus not only made it happen, they knew it’d be the perfect accompaniment to corned beef tongue. This was a taco I won’t soon forget.
I have to shout out to everyone who served up various forms of cured fish, particularly salmon—there were more than just a few. I love lox way more than most people, but after so many bites, what I really want most is the bagel. And a Bloody Mary.
- Instagram Images: Melissa Woodley
- Lead Crab Cake Photography: Feastival
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