Foodies Flock to Harvest Festival

(Photos by Emily Chalas and Andrew Glover, live music performed at the festival by M.Shanghai)

By Emily Chalas and Andrew Glover

The Edible Garden Harvest Festival at the Bronx Botanical Garden brought foodies and their families together for a day filled with wine, music, food talks, demonstrations and tastings galore.

The festival celebrates the beginning of the harvesting season with master chefs cooking up some of their favorite recipes. In his “One Pot Wonderful” demonstration, William Patrick Cornelius, also known as Chef William, showed the audience how to make his Smoked Ham & Black Bean Chowder.

Chef William bills himself as a “culinary entertainer” and says on his web site that his “palate could be compared to a Jungian archetypal power dream—full of strong themes that draw upon Bacchus, Mars and Aphrodite influences.”

During his demonstration, Chef William kept patting his face with tissues due to the beaming sun. He was very charismatic and charming throughout, spilling jokes upon jokes, inevitably making his audience laugh and forget about the heat.

The humid air was filled with the aromas of the many ingredients he was chopping up and tossing into his tall aluminum pot. “We’re fortunate to live in the Finger Lakes, such a gorgeous area like this, but what a breath a fresh air to be able to come down to the city and experience home,” said Chef William. “The weather has been perfect, the people are magnificent!” Williams then served guests mouthwatering samples of his “Souper Harvest” chowder and Cabernet Beef Stroganoff.

The festival kept things close to home and hosted many local food vendors from the Bronx and New York such as Stephen STARR Events Grill, Bronx Baking Co. Pretzels, Eddie’s Pizza,and Van Leewen Artisan Ice Cream.

“It’s so wonderful to have an event like this in the heart of the Bronx and there’s such a community atmosphere here,” said Manhattan resident Tati Nguyen. “The food is good, but being that New York is so diverse and is a melting pot I expected more diverse food stands. I’d love to see vendors all prepare something simple as corn or pumpkin but show how different cultures serve those dishes.”

At noon, the wine and beer tastings began from a handful of local vendors. La Cantina Liquor Store and Quintessential Wines, its distributor, offered an impressive array of red wines and white wines. From reds, to whites to moscato, the tastings were endless. Lorraine Raguseo was eloquent in her description of each, explaining the story and origin behind every wine and grape.

The Harvest Festival felt like a cozy neighborhood picnic with locals chatting, while families sat on the grass enjoying the day. The festival began with folk music and a host leading attendees in a square dancing kick off.  Parents were drawn onto the field after being enticed by the fun their children were having. Later, families battled each other in lawn darts, ladder toss, bean bag toss and putting greens.

The festival’s line up of critically acclaimed bands continued the dancing momentum throughout the weekend. People enjoyed tunes from M.Shanghai, Miles to Dayton, Miss Tess and The Talkbacks, The Minivans, Roosevelt Dime, and Spuyten Duyvil.

Bronx Botanical Garden President Gregory Long made encouraged visitors to return to take classes at the Edible Academy. From April to October the academy offers children and adults hands-on gardening experiences, encouraging them to get dirty and exposing them to experiences not so typical for those who live in the city. It is important, Long said, to teach children where food comes from and the importance of healthy eating.

The grand finale for the day was a food demonstration by Iron Chef Mario Batali and Top Chef participant Carla Hall in the garden’s Conservatory. The pair showcased their goofy and electric chemistry while showing the audience how to prepare simple dishes using fresh vegetables. Batali and Hall urged the crowd to interrupt with questions, and sure enough they did. Between three tempting dishes that the chefs bolted out and their non-stop jokes, audience members couldn’t explain what had them holding their stomachs.