Great American Food & Music Fest: Who's Going?
- By Robyn Lee
- May 23, 2009
- Comments
Update (6/14/09): I'm closing comments; if you wanna say something about the event, go to Serious Eats or another online forum. I think it's reasonable to say that I don't want my blog to be a complaint center. And yes, you have reason to complain. But there's obviously nothing I can do about it. I was there; I heard the complaints on Saturday and I heard them last night, and today, and I think I'll be hearing about them for a while. Totally sucks that it ended up being a clusterfuck. Most people will never want to go to an event like this again, but some people will (we did get some messages from people who actually enjoyed themselves...sigh) and for them, next time will be better. And not at Shoreline Amphitheater.
- Yay, I drew a fork.
Perhaps I should've asked this earlier, but is anyone in food blog land going to the Great American Food & Music Fest? Because...I am! In fact, the whole Serious Eats crew is flying to Mountain View, California, the weekend of June 13th to see the fruits of Ed's labors. The Serious Eats name isn't associated with the fest, but Ed cobbled together all the food purveyors, so he's very much in it. For the past few months we've been listening to his many, many...many phone calls to make this fest happen. It's a cool thing.
Check out posts on Serious Eats for more info. And if you're going, let me know. I don't know anything about Mountain View, nor do I know anyone who lives there. It'd also be good to have some fooding partners so I don't explode from trying to eat everything.
Comments
I wish I could go! But I can't use up all of my vacation days. :(
I lived in Mountain View last summer while working for Google. It's a small town, but if you have room in your stomach on Sunday morning, I highly recommend the Mountain View farmer's market. It's at the Caltrain station and will have a lot of produce that's not yet available locally in NY this season. My favorite stalls were a woman selling scones and pastries in the Southeast corner of the market and Apricot King on the Northwestern corner of the market. I've been mail ordering 2.75lb bags of apricots from them since I left.
I don't have any good non-food recommendations since I spent most of my time at Google...
Have fun! I wish I was going :)
I live only a couple hours from Mountain View and so when I saw the post on Serious Eats I was super excited!.... until I saw the date :( Totally sucks that I already have something planned for that day.....damn damn damn. Cant wait to hear all about it.....I'm so jealous, so close.
Tina: A good amount of the food is NYC-based so you won't miss out too much. :)
Katie: Thanks for the info!
Missy: I hope the other thing you have planned is full of FOOOOD!
Hi Robin,
I intend on going to this event, but haven't bought tickets just yet. I am finishing up work at Stanford, so know a little bit of the area. Let me know what info you're looking for.
I am so bummed...I really wanted to head to this event but I'm heading down to SoCal for my brother's graduation. ;_;
Patty: Cool, thanks! I don't know what my schedule is like yet but I'll come to you if I need help.
Manda: Ahh, graduation time. That's important. :)
Hi Robyn,
I've been keeping up with your blog since forever! I'm from the Bay Area and will be in town during the festival. Let me know if you want to grab some bites of delicious food to eat. I have a few places in mind that I think you'd love. :)
-Christine
Hi Robyn,
Thanks for posting this - I live in SF bay area and didn't even know this is coming. It's America's finest gathered in one spot - ofcourse I'll be there. Ed has outdone himself this time.
There aren't much to write in terms of grubs in Mt.View, unfortunately. Compare to your hood in NY, we're in the dust. But! If you're heading up to SF, about 40 mins drive north, you'll be well rewarded. For your sweet tooth, you can't go wrong with:
www.humphryslocombe.com
www.tartinebakery.com
www.paulettemacarons.com (just dont compare to ladure or herme)
Ping me if you'd like to meet - I enjoy meeting food "nut". :-)
Christine: Thanks for the heads up! I don't know what my transportation situation will be like but I assume I'll be with other SE-ers...if I can meet up I'll let you know!
Will: Thanks for the recs! I have no idea if we'll be eating in SF but if we do I'll let ye know. I LIKE BAKERIES.
Hey Robyn!
The whole Lick My Spoon crew will be there! Give us a heads up if you want to meet up. We would gladly show guys around or talk food for hours.
Even though we're rooted in SF, part of our hearts still reside in NY :)
Cafe Borrone in Menlo Park, which is about 15-20 minutes north of Mountain View. It's really just a cool place to hang out, with good salads, sandwiches, desserts, coffee... and Frosted Mocha's, which are a must.
http://www.cafeborrone.com/
I want to know if the Serious Eats crew will be wearing something so that we can pick them out from the crowd???
Jocelyn: Thanks for the rec!
Mrs L: I think I will wear my Praise the Lard shirt, as seen in this photo. And I will probably be wearing a bright kelly green messenger bag. But I dunno what the rest of the SE-ers are wearing!
Robyn, I'll be there! And I would love to meet up with the SE crew! How?
Ling aka Grocery Ninja =)
Hi Robyn,
I didn't see you at Shoreline - I hope you and SE-ers survived the audience today. Being there myself, suffering all the horror, I had to say that I'm dissapointed the way things turned out. I hope your boss recover and come back soon with something better planned. It was a great idea afterall.
Worst event I have ever been to. The people sponsoring this event should be ashamed of themsleves. They let their greed get the better of them. So few booths to feed over 10,00 people?
'High tech' wristbands to save time? Wow. Just wow.
I was one of the lucky ones and got there early and actually got some food but not the Katzs and Philly Cheesesteaks,which is mainly what I wanted.
I will NEVER attend another event put on by these people and I hope that Bobby Flay and anyone else profiting from this event will donate the money to charity or give it to the poor souls who lost a part of their life on this garbage event.