The New York City Food Film Festival is a weekend of fine foods, excellent drinks, and a well-organized party. The festival is in its fifth year and it kicked off Thursday night with an ode to good burgers and beers, continuing through the weekend with a great mix of films and recipes. Saturday’s events were two screenings that gave audiences shocks, laughs, delicious foods, local brews, and moments of pause and reflection.
The festival kicked off at noon at Tribeca Cinema with the “Tribeca Taco Takedown.” The takedown is the brain child of one Matt Timms. He’s been hosting them in cities throughout the US for years, and in Tribeca he threw down the gauntlet with some of New York City’s finest taco creators. Before the “bloodiest, bloodbath against one another” (as described by Timms) ensued, the festival screened five short films about tacos and delectable desserts.
Hilah Cooking, a New York City and Youtube sensation kicked off the films with “Slacker Tacos” and the joys of hangover food. She featured homemade chorizo breakfast burritos and her nonchalant, sassy, and snarky attitude sparked laughter in the crowd. Following Hilah were two Liza de Guia films. The first, Danny Macaroons, showcased a delectable dessert all too often ignored, and audience members were given the opportunity to partake in a caramel salted macaroon while looking deeper into the world of coconut. Up next was La Newyorkina, the short story of Mexican-style popsicles and their new home in New York City.
Robicelli’s Cupcakes rounded out the dessert portion, and as every flavor of cupcake imaginable flooded the screen, patrons were encouraged to live life on the edge and indulge in a Buffalo Chicken Cupcake. With a celery-based cake, blue cheese butter cream frosting, and piece of buffalo chicken on top, it was a odd creation that challenged the palates of many. The takedown film series came to an end with Rockaway Taco, a Selby film about a seasonal taco joint in the heart of New York’s surfer haven, Rockaway Beach.
With the end of the films came the much anticipated and very epic battle for taco domination. Dos Caminos, Chipotle, Dos Toros, The Harrison, and Rockaway Taco took their places and prepared for festival goers an array of fine Mexican foods including fish tacos, tuna savechey, spiced banana crepes, and avocado cabbage tacos. They all put up a good fight, and despite many wonderful recipes it was Dos Toros who took the win — and in all honesty it wasn’t too surprising. Not only did they come prepared with their own music video, but their super-hot sauce was a fiery explosion of deliciousness that had people reeling.
As night fell on Tribeca the party really got started. Unlike the calm moviegoers of the Takedown, the Food Porn Party was host to a rowdy batch of foodies and film fans freely yelling comments in the theater and partaking in witty banter with MC George Motz. The menu also took a departure into the world of extreme eats including octopus, pig’s head sausage, and the much-anticipated Turtleburger: turkey beef wrapped in turkey bacon with beef hotdogs stragically placed to look like turtle limbs.
The films, known as food porn, were short pieces of visually stimulating shots of food set to creative soundtracks. Dialogue was not allowed, resulting in a completely sensory experience. Rusty — the Turtleburger creator — wrapped his burgers with hard guitar riffs pulsating in the background, famous Paris monuments were turned into baked goods (Pastry Paris), a woman and octopus became one, (Amor Pulpo), and the contents of a fridge forgotten took a rebellious decent into non-edibility as ominous instrumentals swelled (Zergut). As the films progressed, patrons enjoyed fried octopus, blood sausage, and lobster and all eagerly awaited the after party where Rusty’s turtlebuger would be awaiting.
The party menu featured creations from Saxon + Parole, Fine Cooking Magazine, and Jarlsburg Cheese, coffee from Irving Farm, and exquisite chocolates from Fannie May. The Raveonettes and Lykke Li echoed throughout the bar, and burlesque dancers added some extra flare to an already swanky affair. Film stars and directors mingled with chefs and patrons swapping recipes, food stories, and cooking tips. It was a great close to an excellent day of food, film, music, and drink.
The New York City Food Film Festival’s Saturday events were high energy, high creativity, vibrant, and completely entertaining. Food was shown in a whole new light, and if you’d never been to New York, it was the perfect place to learn about great restaurants, good dives, and local hot spots. Tribeca Cinema became a place to mix and mingle and enjoy something every person loves: food.