This year’s Greenwich Food and Wine Festival was held from Thursday through Saturday, September 26-28th, with the final day the beneficiary of a breathtaking location overlooking the harbor, temperatures in the 80s, and a cloudless sky. With several tents offering liquid libations and food, others emitting smoke that was a precursor to burgers, pork and ribs, a grass parking area for numerous food trucks and others shadowing the main stage where Alabama would perform in the evening, it was ripe for a perfect culinary adventure.
I arrived early to sample as many food items as I could before the mad rush. As I entered the main tent, the first item that I noticed that there were only two aisles, as opposed to the three aisle event from 2013. This created much wider walking paths which was a huge positive, unfortunately it reduced the number of food vendors. And the percentage of food to wines and liquors was greatly reduced. I was disappointed since I was there to sample the food. Outside the tent, there were several other sections, one dedicated to more liquid libations, another to burger and smoked meats and yet another for food trucks.
I stopped at each of the booths to have a quick chat with many of the chefs, and receive a preview of their little bites. Then I was fortunate to have a taste of every chef, and there were some that deserve special mention.
• Bar Sugo - Chef Pat’s served mortadella purée with Burrata, black currant, pine nuts and a touch of olive oil. The combination of the mortadella and the Burrata was fantastic, and the overall presentation was elevated by the black currants. The second dish, his tuna crudo was fresh, with clean flavors and delicious.
• Barcelona - The Gazpacho Shooter was outstanding and highlighted the great flavor of the season-ending heirloom tomatoes with cucumbers and other spices. Another dish combined mini-shrimp with a chick pea batter and fried; Chef Mike added a touch of saffron that created an incredible back notes. The last offering was the Jamon Mangelica, a cured shank of a Hungarian pig. The texture was dense and almost gelatinous with deep flavor.
• Cava / Scena / 55 Wine Bar / Harvest - These four sister restaurants teamed to present three delicious selections. Thin slices of medium rare steak sat atop a potato chip. The mild beef flavor worked great with the saltiness of the chip. Ahi Tuna tartare included a flat bread topped with thinly sliced tuna and finished with avocado purée. The combination was delicious. The final selection was shaved Brussels sprouts served with a risotto cake. The combination of textures and the slight bitterness of the sprouts offset by the risotto was fantastic.
• Char created a full-flavored Latin delight with its salmon and tostone. The smashed plantain pancake was a great canvas for the tequila cured salmon. The presentation included mango Pico de Gallo that added a great sweetness to the dish.
• Fjord – Fluke is one of the under-rated and unappreciated members of any sushi menu and I was happy to see Fjord feature one of my favorites. I really enjoyed how the orange and peppermint worked with the mild fluke, it was a delightful and refreshing interpretation.
• Granola Bar – Their rendition of a Deviled egg benefited from the addition of candied turkey bacon that gave the dish a sweet and salty ending.
• Parallel Post – The second outstanding soup of the event was the chipotle scallop bisque served by Chef Ali Goss. This was a delicious interpretation using a non-traditional mollusk, scallop, versus the traditional lobster or shrimp. This created a milder base, to which Chef Ali kicked it up with the inclusion of cayenne crumbs swimming on the surface.
• Spread – Chef Carlos offered a braised Octopus with chorizo on crostini. The octopus was quickly seared immediately before serving and then paired with a chorizo spread on crostini. The octopus was soft with a touch of char, which delivered the perfect level of spiciness to complement the octopus.
Outside the main tent there was grilling and smoking. Other than my enjoying a couple of bites of the pulled pork sandwich from Dinosaur BBQ, this was a very disappointing group.
Overall there were some clear winners in the food and some that I did not enjoy. In any event it was a great day in the sun, listening to great chefs in the CTbites Blogger Lounge and enjoying conversations with both celebrity and local chefs.
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