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Intrigued by the 2014 Thaithentic Food and Culture Festival

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A Google alert brought me to the site for Thaitentic, a Thai food and culture festival, apparently the first of its kind in NYC. I love the flavors of Thai food, especially kaffir lime leaf, and have eaten a lot of American-style Thai food, but I’m curious to learn more about the cuisine, especially flavor profiles.

The culture is also something I’d welcome getting to know better, especially music and dance. For a year at CalArts I studied the music and dance of another southeast Asian culture, that of Bali, and just loved it. I’d be curious to see what similarities/dissimilarities there are between the cultures in their music and dance. Thai art and sport are also part of this event.

As for the food, it is nice to see some familiar Queens Thai restaurants participating—Sripraphai, Ayada, and Zabb Elee. I’m less familiar with Spice, which has a location in LIC. The featured chefs are Pichet Ong, Pastry Chef and Executive Chef at Chi (I have not been but would like to) and Andy Ricker of Pok Pok fame.

Tickets are $45 but if you want to go an hour early for the VIP hour, it’s $70. The event is on Saturday, August 23 from 7 to 10 p.m. at espaceny (635 W 42nd Street, almost to the Hudson River). 21+ older only (Singha is one of the sponsors). If I go I will definitely write up my experience. Sounds like it could be an interesting and delicious time!

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Mid-Summer Update

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Watermelon Salad at The Queens Kickshaw—one of the best things I’ve had all summer.

Well, it’s been a while since I gave my poor blog some attention. Perhaps this will be the beginning of its resurrection, maybe not; I won’t make any predictions.

Things are going well—I’m writing a lot on We Heart Astoria and We Heart LIC, which is the kind of fun times that don’t feel like work. I was on the radio again! Always a good time. I’m swimming a lot, too, so I’m SO HUNGRY. I’ve been eating a lot of egg-and-cheese-on-a-roll breakfast sandwiches post-swim workout—which, by the way, burns about 800 calories. I love these sandwiches at Zorba’s, a little neighborhood spot that also makes my current favorite frappe, an iced coffee beverage popular in places like Greece and Bulgaria.

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It’s a slightly sweet and milky coffee drink made from Nescafe coffee. I’m a big fan.

Other summer food activities include making sun tea (yes, I’m a child of the 80s), horchata, cold brew coffee, and eating a lot of vegetables from my CSA, which is in full swing now. Recent restaurant trips include The Queens Kickshaw, where I tried their new fabulous Summer menu (see the watermelon salad above); Spicy Lanka, a Sri Lankan restaurant in Jamaica that is awesome; Pye Boat Noodle, home to incredible noodle soups and tasty snacks; and Khao Kang, a new Thai steam table restaurant with some seriously good food. And cheap! I think 3 dishes were $7.50. More on all these later.

Guilty (not really, but you know what I mean) pleasures: Bounty Bars and Days of Our Lives.