It’s a Slow Food Grill-Off at the Water Taxi Beach

To the BBQ and cook-off nation: A call to tongs! Slow Food NYC and The Good Beer Seal are hosting a benefit grill-off at Harry’s Water Taxi Beach Long Island City on July 21st, 6-9pm. This event is all about location, location, location: instead of focusing on a certain ingredient or dish, cook-off contestants must use locally-sourced foods and be prepared to tell which farms they got their grub from. There’ll be more food to go around than theirs, too, with chefs from Fette Sau, Fatty Cue, Rub BBQ, Gusto and Jimmy’s No. 43 serving feasts from local farms. The event is the crown jewel of Good Beer Month, just declared of July by the mayor himself. So Sixpoint Craft Ales will be sold to the masses along with the regular potions at the Water Taxi Beach bar. With numerous organizations participating, rivers of beer, beats by Finger on the Pulse, and twenty amateur chefs vying for the favor of food-celebrity judges, it’ll be a locavore luau like none other, and quite possibly the cook-off to end all cook-offs (just kidding!). All proceeds from the event benefit Slow Food NYC, and it’s $35 to get in and eat all you can. Get your tickets now.

Good Beer-lords Jimmy Carbone of Jimmy’s No. 43 and Ray Deter of d.b.a. accepting a certificate of “Good Beer Month,” photo courtesy of Joe DiStefano

Hungry to compete in the cook-off? I can assist you with that. Joining forces with cook-off pros Theo Peck and Nick Suarez, our “grill-off committee” is taking contestant registrations… now! We’ve also assembled a panel of judges that include formidable foodies Josh Ozersky of The Feedbag, Lucinda Scala Quinn of Martha Stewart Living and Everyday Food and Rachel Wharton of Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan. Contestants will be judged by both the audience and the judges, and win prizes (yet to be announced, but good!). Of course, you won’t need to purchase a ticket to the grill-off if you enter as a contestant; be sure you receive a confirmation email from us, and you’re all set. Space is limited to 20, so sign up soon!

Grill-Off Contestant Guidelines:

-Create a bite/taste for approximately 250 people of your original grilled dish.

-The main ingredients for your dish must have a local and sustainable provenance. Your meats, vegetables, and fruits must come from a source in the Northeast, preferably within 150 miles of New York City. This is an event to highlight local farms and the region’s summer bounty, so please provide the names of the farms/purveyors that you purchased your main ingredients from at the event. Think of it as a partnership of sorts (i.e. Jimmy Carbone is planning to pair up with Flying Pigs Farm). And while you’re buying stuff from them, why not tell them what you’re cooking for and invite them to come to the event? They’ll be treated like stars.

-Come prepared to throw your dish on the grill at the Water Taxi Beach to finish its preparation. Please let us know of any specific requirements you might need other than tongs, grill space and some table space to assemble and serve that you think you might need when you write to register.

-You can enter as a team of up to two people.

-Creativity is welcome: we are looking for riffs off your normal BBQ fare. Your dish may skew towards sweet or savory.

-We are looking for everyone to have fun. If you have the time, please feel free to create signs, table cloths, t-shirts, whatever floats your boat. You want to be remembered.

To enter the cook-off, write to [email protected]