4Food – Social Media Week – Eats & Apps – A Food (App) Lovers’ Roundtable

4Food
http://4food.com
286 Madison Ave
New York, NY 10016

THE CONQUEST
Are you familiar with the Slayer Affect? Whenever the heavy metal band Slayer plays a concert in any town, the Gods of heavy metal reach down and lift the rock where all the crazed metal fans live in wait until the next time Slayer plays a concert near them. They scurry out, pound some beers, mosh it up to Slayer and then return to the rock underneath which they live. If you’ve ever seen the band live, you’ll understand.

A similar thing happens when Social Media Week comes into town. All the bloggers, app developers, designers and social networking junkies come out from behind their computers and meet up to socially connect…offline. The only difference between this and the Slayer affect is more texting, less moshing. Social Media Week happens in 6 cities around the world and comprises a series of panels, discussions, meet ups, parties and events that all somehow tie together the world of social media. As “the world’s most socially connected burger blogger” and bona fide Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, Utappd and now FoodSpotting junkie, I perused the event list and signed up for some that held my interests. There was only one burger specific event, held at 4Food, and although there was an entrance fee, I was happy to pay! Here’s the skinny:

EATS+APPS EVENT
http://eatsandapps.eventbrite.com/

Come join us for a mobile food app showcase featuring reps and founders of 8 innovative food and beverage apps.

Attendees will hear/learn more about the apps and interact with their teams in a social setting. This dinner will bring together those at the forefront of social food tech and food app enthusiasts for an evening of great food, drinks, and networking.

Our venue, 4Food, will serve as the backdrop for the gathering. 4Food generated accolades around its opening in September for its forward-thinking food model and interactive ordering system that lets diners create over 140 million combinations of burgers & fillings, save them for future ordering and then share their creation with their friends and networks via social media.

Ticket price includes:

Passed delectables (both veggie and meat) and sides from 4Food, wine and non-alcoholic beverages. [Note: curated full-size burgers from 4Food’s Menu will be available for purchase, as well.]
Access to, in some cases an exclusive preview of, the newest and most popular food and beverage apps
Networking with those at the forefront of social food tech and people like you who love food apps

Tickets are $20 in Advance.

Produced by:

Danielle Gould: Danielle Gould is the founder of Food+Tech Connect, a startup that connects innovators in the growing food and information technology movement. Say hello to her at @dhgisme.

Emily Cavalier: Emily Cavalier is the founder of Mouth of the Border, an online community for lovers of ethnic food and culture in New York City. She also consults on social media/event projects with food/food media brands and works as a project manager developing and executing integrated business development campaigns in the corporate event industry. Connect with Emily at @EmilysPearl.

Brian Quinn and Jonny Cigar of The Noble Rot, a traveling wine saloon: Dubbed “a new form of clandestine drinking” by Tasting Table New York, Noble Rot events re-envision the typical, conceptual wine tasting as a more social, informal experience in which guests are encouraged to interact with the wine, wine experts, and each other in an intimate setting. Follow the Noble Rot crew at @NobleRotNYC.

About the Venue, 4Food: (From http://4food.com) “We bring fast food that’s fresh, delicious, and nutritious to all ages, lifestyles, incomes, and ethnicities. No fads, fillers, or anything artificial. We’re revolutionizing counter culture, in real-time.

Our restaurants are designed to function as community hubs, as they satisfy local appetites in healthy, customizable ways.

Revolutionizing counter culture means:

Dynamic Menu Boards reduce waste and enable us to feature seasonal and occasional products.
Advanced, web-based technologies allow us to make personalized recommendations that meet our guest’s nutrition and lifestyle goals.”

Download the event program here for more info on the organizers and apps:
EatsandAppsProgram-Feb82011-SocialMediaWeek2011

FOODSPOTTING
Of all the apps and companies represented at the Eats & Apps event, the one that has my attention the most was FoodSpotting. Imagine Foursquare for food where you can not only check into the venue but also the food. Users can upload a picture of their food along with a review and have it publish to their various social network sites and even score a real FourSquare check in. For a food blogger like myself, this adds a layer of fun and excitement to my check ins. At the end of the day, Burger Conquest is a series of stories about my crazy life that all somehow ties back to burgers that is told with a heavy focus on pictures. An app like FoodSpotting allows me to do that while I am connecting with other eaters who have the same interests.

Check it out and be sure to send me a follow request.

THE BURGER
It wouldn’t be a proper Burger Conquest story without a burger and when I noticed that Foodspotting had created their own 4Food burger for the menu, I knew which one I was going to eat! “4Foodspotting” burger; Brioche, Beef, Potato & Chorizo Hash, Cheddar, Ketchup, Lettuce & Tomato. I’m no stranger to 4Food and have reviewed them before, but you can read about that here. So how was the 4Foodspotting burger? As I wrote in my check in, “How can you go wrong w beef burger, brioche & potato and chorizo hash?”

8 out of 10 ounces
-Rev

Well it wasn’t too long before Amy from Foodspotting answered the question; “That’s exactly what we were thinking. Figured it was like putting French fries in your burger…which is awesome :)” Well thank you Amy, you done figured good! Next time you visit my pals at 4Food you’ll have to have a Foodspotting of this…

The Burger Conquest Pee-Wee Herman “Growing Boy” Burger
A 4Food doughnut shaped beef patty topped with onions, potato chorizo hash, smoked mozzarella, sopressata & sweet chili, served on a multi-grain bun. I placed the order right there in the restaurant using one of their iPads at the internet station and anxiously waited for them to announce it’s arrival.