You could be three Warsteiner beers deep and the carpet would still reek of melted butter. Film and food junkies alike hunker down and dip their breadsticks into tiny paper cups of melted Jarlsberg cheese, which absorbs the breadsticks that sink like quicksand. Meanwhile, Alobar presents a savory and sweet pork and quail egg crostini: stunningly tender maple-cured pork over ricotta, topped with a freshly fried quail egg.
This is the Food Film Festival of New York City, and it may be the epitome of reasonable perfection.
The festival celebrates food film, which congregates film and food artists alike to fetishize the mouthwatering and inspiring artisanship that is all things to be eaten.
On Thursday, the AMC Village 7 housed the Food Film Festival’s Farm to Film to Table: Meat Your Butcher, one of six events throughout the festival’s five-day run. Meat Your Butcher showcased sustainable meat butchering with the world premiere of “Meat Hooked!,” a feature documentary by Suzanne Wasserman depicting the rise and fall and rise again of New York butchery.
Before the screenings, moviegoers were handed amuse-bouches of the food that were showcased on screen. Prior to “Meat Hooked!” there was the short documentary “Farm to Table,” which showcased George Weld’s Williamsburg eatery Egg and how most of its food is produced on its own farm outside of the city. Filmgoers were delighted with pickled treats from the farm which were crisp, earthy and delicious.
After viewing the delightful “Farmer Poet,” another short film, festival staff distributed white paper bags filled with bacon popcorn. It’s caramel corn for carnivores: sweet bacon mixed with salty popcorn.
While the gorgeous talents of Dickson’s Farmstand and Fleisher’s Meats were displayed, Jeffrey Ruhalter, who was the original butcher for the Essex Street Butcher Shop, had the most captivating story.
Tisch Senior Monica Skoko said she enjoyed attending the festival.
“It’s pretty epic,” Skoko said. “This is the most, and the greatest, food that I’ve ever had in the city. [It’s] like Downstein on a sugar high.”
A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Oct. 23 print edition. Thomas Valls is a contributing writer. Email him at [email protected].
