Munchies by Vice hosted a food festival at the Hester Street Fair from September 16-17, bringing some of NYC's favorite restaurants to the mix and a section dedicated to Nordic cuisine. Vice is a media company focuses on everything this generation and the world around it has to offer. Vice has several channel divisions dedicated to journalism/news, technology, sports, female culture, and food. Munchies is its food division and has a subscriber count of almost two million on YouTube.
The festival included familiar vendors like Baohaus, The Meatball Shop, Home Frite, and OddFellows to name a few. It was structured in the same way that Smorgasburg sets up their vendors in Prospect Park. There were tents lined up next to each other giving hungry visitors a chance to hop around and sample from multiple places.
If it wasn't for the live DJ, the jumbo screen playing Munchies videos, or the Nordic food and culture section, it would have just been a Smorgasburg dupe. Luckily it met my expectations — and I like to set the bar high.
I don't know about you, but I was not familiar with Nordic cuisine prior to this, so allow me to fill you in from what I learned.
"Nordic" refers to all things from Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, and Norway. Aka the really cold, northern part of Europe. Most importantly, Nordic countries specialize in exporting fish and with mid-low water temperatures, it's a perfect place for fish like salmon, cod, trout, and mackerel to thrive. With that being said, some of the vendors for the Nordic section really focused on fish, like vRÅ where Chef Sofia B. Olsson and her sous chef, Rebecca Olsson focus on Swedish cuisine with a Japanese spin.
Nordic countries also have notoriously good dairy products so it was no surprise to see Norr Skyr there serving up delicious traditional skyr which is a Scandinavian strained yogurt.
The Nordic Lounge was stocked with books and magazines about the Scandinavian countries. There were little tables for each country, and the walls were adorned with Instagram photos dedicated to Nordic activities and local cuisine.
The festival also showcased other restaurants un-related to Nordic life. I ate from a vendor called Excell Kingston Eatery which specializes in Jamaican food. For $12 I got Jamaican Johnny cakes, yardie slaw, fried sweet plantains, and a quarter piece of jerk chicken. It was everything you could every want in a dish. It was sweet, savory, umami, and like a warm hug.
Everyone was able to eat at the many bench tables provided, watch Munchies episodes with Chef talks, and listen to live DJ sets while enjoying the multitude of food offered. And after that, guests who were over 21 were able to enter the Beer Garden and enjoy some adult beverages, which I couldn't get a peek of because your girl is only 20.
If Munchies decides to do another festival next year, you need to check it out for yourself. Keep your eyes peeled for events on their Facebook page or on the festival's official website.