A late post .. .the Harlem Eat-up was held last May, and since we had a soccer-free weekend, I told the boys that we should go into the city and see what this Eat-Up was about.
This was the second year the event was held, and from the photos from last year’s event, it looked like this was something good to check out. And of course .. food!! Who can’t resist a free tasting, specially from well-known chefs and eating establishments?
So off we went on a day-trip to the city …
The premise is that you would be able to taste samples of dishes from the participating restaurants and eateries, get to meet some of the guest chefs, have a glass of wine as you walked around … Sounds good, right? We stood in line, and found out that we were in the ‘paid’ line. If we didn’t want to pay, the other side of the area was the free zone that we could walk around. Well, since none of us drink alcohol, we thought that paying $80 for taste samples was a bit too much, because even if we ate at a high-end restaurant, we would’t be paying $80 per person for dinner. So we went to the free area …
Here’s what you get for walking around in the free area …
That’s Mr. Cory, the young entrepreneur behind Mr. Cory’s Cookies. No free tastings, but you can buy a bag of cookies for $5.
There were free tastings here at the natural shakes. None at the ice cream carts. They had some really interesting flavour combinations, though. We would have wanted to taste a sample first before deciding to pay $5 for a scoop …
Some art work to admire …
Handicrafts … healthy sign-ups … a free umbrella with a paid subscription …
Here’s the best part … face painting !! And it was free!
But we were hungry, so we decided to go uptown to sit at a restaurant … We ended up at Sylvia’s; the boys didn’t find anything on the menu they wanted to try at the Red Rooster … Sylvia‘s was okay. We honestly didn’t find anything out of the ordinary on the menu either for the prices we paid … And yes, it was less than the $80 per person to pay for tastings … Maybe the tasting would have been more satisfying than the meal … hmmm …. something to think about for the next time …
Oh yes! We did see some chefs at the EatUp …
And that was our experience at the Harlem EatUp. I don’t know if we’ll go again next year, if they hold it again. Or maybe the sample tastings and wine would be more enjoyable with a group of friends, instead of just the family … We’ll see how we feel next year.
If you were at the EatUp, how did you find it?
A little bit of this and that ... 