NY Food Film Fest 2011 – Cheers To Burgers and Beers

“Cheers To Burgers and Beers!”
The opening night of the 2011 NY Food Film Festival
Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick St
New York, NY 10013

THE CONQUEST
George Motz, the man behind the burger bible “Hamburger America,” and film of the same name, along with co-creator Harry Hawk, organize and run the NYC Food Film Festival. This multi-day event combines their mutual love of food and film to create a unique twist to the standard film festival. According to them; “Through documentaries, features and short films, the Festival showcases the best, and the most memorable, of the world’s favorite foods. Along with a heaping helping of mouth-watering films, Motz, Hawk and company serve up the food that guests are watching on the screen for a multi-sensory, full-bodied experience.” The motto of the festival, “taste what you see on the screen!”

The kick off event, “Cheers to Burgers & Beers,” which happened last night at the Tribeca Cinemas, was presented by Burger Conquest, Idle Hands Bar & Jimmy’s No. 43. Throughout the night, festival goers would be treated to tasty grass fed Burgers from Burger Maker, delicious Beer oriented snacks from Ovenly and array of fantastic craft Beer from a number of great breweries making exciting, new and delicious hand-crafted Beer.

Mayor Mike Bloomberg gave the opening night speech and as a surprise to everyone, made an official proclamation that Oct 13, 2011 is officially recognized as New York Food Film Festival Day! The excitement in the room was electric. Here’s a low res video of the ceremony and speech.

THE FILMS

• The Good Beer Seal- STARRING YOURS TRULY!!!!
  
• The World Premiere Of Burgerlution
• CUD – trailer
• Cafe Boulud’s Fry Burger
• Food Curated: Ovenly

THE FOODS

• Grass-Fed Burgers from Burger Maker
• Ovenly’s Bar Snacks and Beer Cupcakes
• Beer Ice Cream
• and more!

The crazy part of the story; during the late afternoon, only hours before the festival was to begin, tragedy struck. A 6-alarm fire kicked off in the Tribeca Cinemas kitchen. Thanks to the help of team members and volunteers it was quickly controlled but it made cooking impossible. After some quick thinking and phone calls, food was sent off to Bubby’s & Schnipper’s to be prepped. Thanks to both of these fantastic places, the event was saved and there was Burger a plenty.

And yes, if you are wondering, that is a Google Places shaped toothpick in the Burger! Great marketing idea from one of the festival sponsors.

THE BEERS

• Breckenridge
• Crispin Cider
• Lagunitas
• Ommegang
• Otter Creek
• River Horse
• Sierra Nevada
• Sixpoint
• Smuttynose
• Stone
• Troegs
• Two Brothers
• Victory Brewing
• Wolaver’s

and the star of The Good Beer Seal Movie:
BLUE POINT BREWING CO!

And as promised, delivered to our seats during the movie; Ovenly Snacks, Burger Maker Burgers and Blue Point Beers! I tried to get a good picture of my Burger and Beer during the movies but didn’t want to be one of those guys setting off my camera’s flash in the theater.

THE GOOD BEER SEAL
Being an owner Idle Hands Bar in NYC and a huge proponent of both craft Beer & local business, I wanted to bring the NYC craft beer scene to the masses. My good buddy Mike Fox, who is also a craft Beer fan an owner of the film production company Edit Beach, and I decided to team up and make a movie about good Beer. But not just about good Beer, but specifically the Good Beer Seal. It is a NYC organization that deems certain bars around town as being dedicated to the art and industry of craft Beer.

From their website: The Good Beer Seal endeavors to separate the wheat from the chaff by identifying bars that serve quality craft beer and demonstrate a commitment to the community in which they do business. A Good Beer Seal Bar is independently owned and operated and has a unique sense of place; making it more than just another watering hole. A Good Beer Seal Bar is destination-worthy. In addition to offering at least 80% craft domestic/ special imported beers, a Good Beer Seal Bar engages its staff and guests in educational offerings regarding the history and originality of the beers it serves. A bar that earns a Good Beer Seal will be active in its local and global community through responsible stewardship and charitable actions. If The Good Beer Seal is on the door, good business practices, good atmosphere, and good beer is inside.

For the movie we went and visit Jimmy Carbone, co-creator of the Good Beer Seal at his bar, Jimmy’s No. 43. From there we took a ride out to Patchogue, Long Island, NY to learn how Beer is made with the Blue Point Brewing Company. With a wealth of Beer knowledge under my cap, I met back up in NYC with Jimmy at d.b.a. to drink some Good Beer.

Here’s a few screen shots.

   

Thanks to George, Seth, Nicole, Amy & all at NYFFF for letting me be a part of their amazing event after an entire year of pestering them.

Thanks to Mike, Ben, Tre and all at Edit Beach for running around like crazy, all last minute, to make what turned out to be a fantastic mini-movie.

A massive fist pounding cheers to all of the breweries and distributors who helped the event by serving some of the best available craft beer in the land.

Oct 13, 2011 – 7:14 pm

THE BURGER COUNTQUEST
454 Burgers