EATAKU

31st January 2011

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NYChilifest 2011

Although I’ve had a few bad experiences with NYC food festivals (I will still never go back to Big Apple BBQ!), my unbridled love of chili helped me put that past behind and got me out the door for the NYChilifest 2011 yesterday. And I have to say… I am glad I went! Despite complications and confusion over lines to gain entrance and then to get chili and beer, once you figured out what was what, it was rather easy to navigate Chelsea Market and try all 24 competitors’ chilis. To get the whole scoop on the event, the chilis, the competing chef & restaurants, and the judges, feel free to head on over to http://chilifest2011.com as their website does a much better job of explaining it all than I could. I’m just going to give you the quick hits here, a simple rundown of what I liked and what I thought was the best chili the festival had to offer.

After the pleasant surprise of a free coat check, my first capiscum challenge of the day came courtesy of Txikito and their “Txili Txili”. I adore Txikito to begin with, so I knew there couldn’t be a more perfect start this Sunday spice showdown. And it really was near perfect! Chef Alexandra Raij’s chili combined “dark purple heirloom beans, seven different varieties of Basque peppers, and the addition of the fat from the Serrano ham” with small bite-sized ribs. It was an unexpected eye-opener, a perfect blend of heat, meat and flavor, and set a super-high standard for the rest of the chilis to come…

Next up was another of the afternoon’s favorites, Telepan’s Green Chili, the only green chili of the day, and a welcome follow-up to Txikito’s, offering a completely different spice mixture and flavor profile. And the oaxaca cheese on top was a nice addition…

Friedman’s Lunch and Northern Spy Co. were my next two stops, but unfortunately both were less than memorable chilis for me. I know others loved them, but I find chili is one of the most subjective of foods, so to each his own.  But the next table I stopped at, and had to wait in line for, was the most memorable eating experience of the afternoon. That brings us to the production line that was No. 7’s beef and broccoli chili!

Here’s how it worked… they’d take your cup and toss in a few moyashi sprouts and Fritos to start! And while the guy on the right was doing that, the girl in the middle would ladle a scoop of their simple beef chili into a mixing bowl with what looked like a season broccoli paste and go to town combining the two. Then while she was doing that, the first guy would hand your cup to the third guy, who then grabbed the mixing bowl from the girl, scooped the beef & broccoli in with the Fritos and sprouts, added what I think was a creme fraiche, and handed it over to you! And if this whole production method wasn’t incredible enough, this crunch combination they created in each bite worked perfectly with the meat and veggie vehicle they’d blended here for the most tantalizing of taste sensations! And it all happened so fast, it was hard to capture digitally. Look…

And while not the most appealing of pics, I can assure you this stuff was pure joy when it hit your lips…

Across the way, the Commodore then offered up their cinnamon-laced “Prison Chili” which had a subtle sweetness at the start, and some nice back-end heat to boot…

Plus, the guys were clearly enjoying themselves, keeping the ever-growing crowd in stitches with their antics as they drained their cans of Schlitz…

And although I found their chili a little lack-luster, the “Biggest Pot of the Day” award easily went to Brook Vin…

Brooklyn BBQ hot spot Fette Sau had one of the darkest and  meatiest offerings of the entire fest…

One of the longest lines was for the Brooklyn Brewery’s “Chili Experiment”, which they topped with a cilantro garlic aioli and deep fried jalapeno chips…

As they explained to Marvel’s Iron Man editor Alejandro Arbona here, there were 42 ingredients in the “experiment” including peanut butter and peri peri…

The folks at Dumont Burger next door had to ask each and every customer that came for their chili about any nut allergies as theirs was packed with peanuts and almonds. It added a nice texture and crunch to the meaty mix, and happened to be one of my wife’s faves of the day…

Jimmy Carbone of No. 43 brought out his self-proclaimed “no bullshit chili” and it was just how I like mine; bold and spicy with a strong start that doesn’t let up…

I had never heard of La Palapa before but they are so on my radar now after their exquisite offering here. The chili was simple, spiced and savory on its own, but the addition of friend guajillo peppers and scallions on top, mixed with a flavored cream, put this chili over the top and easily into my top three of the entire festival!! I am so looking these lovely ladies up and heading out to try their cooking again very soon…

The Food Network Test Kitchen, which is actually in the building upstairs, brought down a flavorful and no-frills chili that was a nice way to start winding down the day…

Toloache took an interesting approach by adding kimchi for a Korean inspired chili, which added a nice flavor contrast at first compared to earlier entries, but seemed a bit confused by what it wanted to be to me by the end…

And one of the last stand-outs was the Vinegar Hill House’s guajillo chili and Negro Modelo beer chili! But what really made this one stand out what the amazing pickled peppers they added in the end to give a wonderful crunch that also added a quick kick of extra spice in every bite!

I did my best to try every chili that was featured today, hitting 21 of the 24 tables and sampling the meat and bean masterpieces they all brought to bear on Chelsea. But I unfortunately missed a few, so I’ll be reading blog posts similar to this one to see how Blue Ribbon, Suenos and Mile End’s chilis were; all three established NYC eateries I love that always turn out great food that I’m sorely disappointed I missed!

But in the end, there can be only one winner, and while I just discovered while writing this post that Northern Spy Co.’s chili took home the Golden Chili Mug when all was said and done earlier today, my top three chilis were as follows…

3. La Palapa

2. No. 7

1. Txikito’s Txili Txili!!!

And Chef Raij mentioned they were thinking of keeping the Txili Txili on Txikito’s menu all week, so if you would like to try it,  which I highly recommend, give them a call and confirm if you’ll be lucky enough to get down there and get yourself a bowl!