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Lauren & Mel serve up delicious baked pastas made with Pestos with Panache by Lauren at Edible Queens' first event
On Sunday, January 24, Edible Queens held our first event, An Edible Winter Warm-up presented in partnership with L haus, a truly amazing new building in Long Island City. L haus has been a supporter of Edible Queens since our premiere issue, so when we first started looking around for locations, we naturally reached out to our friends there. You might think it odd to hold a tasting event in a residential building, but the great facilities at L haus - a spacious community room overlooking a gorgeous patio plus a well-equipped media room - were just perfect for what we intended to showcase.
In a nutshell, the Warm-up was an opportunity to introduce you, one-on-one, to some of the restaurants, food artisans and contributors you've read about in the pages of our magazine. It was also an opportunity for us to start a conversation about The Queens Food Scene, especially where to go and what to order. And last, but not least, the event kicked off a 30-day canned food drive to benefit Hour Children Outreach and Food Pantry, a Long Island City-based food pantry. (If you weren't able to attend the event, pleased stop by L haus over the next month and drop off a few cans. Queens food pantries like Hour Children have been overwhelmed with the increased demand posed by the city's economic woes.)
This free event was an incredible success; more than 350 of you RSVP'd!! (We'd like to send a special thanks to all of our great vendors below for having the foresight to bring some extra food!) We collected more than 1800 dollars' worth of canned goods for Hour Children; Sister Tesa and her army of volunteers were thrilled! The Queens Food Scene panel was attended by more than 60 people, and we got great story ideas from both the panelists and the audience! Well, let's just say we have a lot of eating to do!
Below, please find some photos from the event, taken by volunteers Kendra Thatcher and Veronica Chan, so you can relive the day. Thank you for coming, thank you for reading and thank you for making Queens the best borough in New York.
Dolce Nonna creator Gisella Civale and her daughter Wendy sample their authentic Italian appetizers
We wrote about Dolce Nonna's delicious concoctions in our Winter issue
Lauren prepared two pasta bakes for the event: a Fabulous Fig & Gorgonzola Bake and a Pumpkin Chilpotle Taco Bake. Her Pestos with Panache are all-natural, basil-based and available here.
The folks at the new Testaccio Ristorante on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City served up a full menu, including Pulled Oxtail Crostini; Pasta e Fagioli; and Ricotta Cheesecake.
Here's a close-up of the crostini: Yum.
Our friends at Red Jacket Orchards sampled a variety of juices, as well as fresh, local apples.
Red Jacket Orchards is one of the only large-scale local orchards marketing Newtown Pippin apples, which were first grown in Elmhurst. (These aren't pippins, tho!)
World's Fare blogger Joe DiStefano samples some of Manducatis Rustica's amazing food. Manducatis Rustica is on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City
The brilliant Gianna Cerbone from Manducatis Rustica satisfied us all with Mini Cheesecake; Espresso Cream Puffs; Ouzo-soaked Panettone; Minestrone with Basil Pesto; and Escarole Pie.
Chef Alex Schindler and team from the soon-to-open LIC Market in Long Island City offered up Tapenade with Fresh Vegetables and Fig Mostarda with Gorgonzola canapes.
Guests also received free jarred samples of the tapenade and fig mostarda to take home.
Very Cherre generously sampled four-packs of their addictive tart cherry juices, plain or spiked with pomegranate, blueberry or cranberry
Jen Houston, of This Chick Bakes, sampled Old Fashioned Chocolate and Red Velvet mini-cupcakes, plus Chamomile & Honey and Green Tea & Lemon mini-cookies, and Fudge Brownies.
Astoria's Bareburger made the best of the no-open-flame rule and whipped up delicious organic milkshakes, which they served with blondies and brownies.
Queens natives Freddy and Rich, the sweethearts of Sweetleaf coffee in Long Island City, charm a customer. Get Rich's best coffee-making tips here.
The incomparable Steve Blanco Trio provided background music to eat by.
Wow! What a turnout!
Some happy faces, eatin' and chillin' on the patio at L haus.
Astoria supper club hostesses Tamara Reynolds and Zora O'Neill signed copies of their new cookbook, Forking Fantastic.
Queens County Farm Manager Kennon Kay (left) and her associate Annemarie Gero sold farm-fresh eggs and fleece.
Queens eggs!
Sage General Store in Long Island City donated a variety of brownies.
Now that's a full plate!
At 2 p.m., we hosted a panel on The Queens Food Scene, moderated by Joe DiStefano. Panelists included, from left, Top Chef-testant Lee Anne Wong; former Citysearch food editor Josh Ozersky; travel writer Zora O'Neill; and Eating in Translation blogger Dave Cook. Dave provided an awesome slideshow, detailing his many bites throughout the borough in vivid detail. You can view it here. Also, read Joe DiStefano's recap of all the borough's great eats here.
Additional special thanks go to our friends and supporters who contributed to the gift bags and raffle:
Big Green Cookbook
Clearview Park Golf Course
Hunters Point Wines & Spirits
Queens Crossing
Discover Queens from Queens Economic Development Corporation
Rose House
Spencer Pilates Arts
Whole Foods Market
Special thanks also go to our volunteers: Veronica Chan, Paul Hayes, Ryan Powers, Kendra Thatcher, Mary Tranchina, everyone from Hour Children who collected cans and everyone at L haus who helped keep the facilities orderly and clean.
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Kate