Flavors by Four: NYCWFF 2014 - Grand Tasting Presented by ShopRite

This past weekend we had the opportunity to attend the New York City Wine & Food Festival courtesy of ShopRite!! We both were so excited for it and the events we went to turned out to be amazing!! We are so lucky to have been sent by ShopRite, and we can't wait for next years festival :) On Saturday afternoon we were invited to the Grand Tasting on the pier to both experience and work the event. There were hundreds and hundreds of booths set up with vendors giving out tastes of both food and alcohol. There is no way anyone can try everything that is available, even if you had the whole 5 hours and a huge appetite so you have to carefully pick and choose what's worth it to you.

Fleet Street Kitchen located in Baltimore, MD had what I would consider to be my personal favorite bite of the day which was their Braised Short Rib. They also offered a Pumpkin Triffle that had mini marshmallows on top. I paired these two delicious offerings with Entwine Pinot Grigio. My other favorite bite of the day came from Crave Fish Bar located in New York, NY which was a Smoked Scallop that was topped with olive oil, fig and pumpkin seeds. That was the only bite I actually had two of but didn't take a picture of it either time...Sorry!!

Here we are in front of the Cupcake Wine truck. We were total advocates for the Wine Glass Necklaces which make holding your tiny plates of food easier as your beverage dangles in front of you. Just be sure not to walk around with it full. Plus an extra bonus is it keeps the amount of glasses that break during the event minimal since everyone has them hanging from their necks!

This Churro flavored pretzel with Nutella dipping sauce was from the Cooking Channel booth. They also had an Everything pretzel with honey mustard sauce as well as a Za'tar pretzel with middle eastern spices paired with a Tazaiki Greek yogurt dipper, but I was in a dessert kind of mood. Since there aren't a lot of tables and chairs set up we grabbed our pretzels and went over to watch one of my favorite food network stars!!

This is Rachel Ray doing a cooking demo on one of the two stages set up in the rear of the pier. Notice the large mirror above her, it allows all the people watching to really see what she's doing in all those orange pots and pans. Afterwards she was taking questions from the audience and even let a few people taste what she made which was some kind of pasta casserole.

These fancy bites were from a booth set up that was promoting a sweepsteaks to win a trip down to Mexico City. All 3 were signature dishes of 3 different famous chefs from Mexico. We had a Mexican Wonton with minced meat and pomegranate perils, decadent chocolate mousse with fresh whipped cream and mint and huge shrimp cocktail with vegetable tapenade and micro greens.

I totally chickened out for a picture with Aarti Sequeira who won The Next Food Network Star season 6 in 2010. She was a food blogger just like me and won the whole thing with lots of flavorful Indian dishes. She hosts the show Aarti Party and is often a judge on Guy's Grocery Game or other competitive programs.

At the end of the day it was our turn to work the Potluck Blog area of the ShopRite booth. We were out in the crowds talking to people and handing out recipes that are currently on the ShopRite Potluck blog!! It was so exciting knowing that hundreds of people took one of our recipes so hopefully we have increased our following and got the Potluck blog more publicity.