April Bloomfield on Brooklyn’s New Food Festival
Who approached whom with the idea for Taste Talks? What got the ball rolling?
It was actually [Northside founder] Daniel Stedman who approached me with this idea to start a food event. Needless to say, he’d already had experience doing music and other events (Northside Festival, Summerscreen). We threw ideas around about something that was a bit more balanced—not the overly large food festivals we’re all used to. We wanted to create something a little more intimate, where people could come and learn as well as eat.
Can you describe what your role as curator entails?
Firstly, it’s a meeting of minds and a collaboration with Daniel Stedman and Northside Media. It’s basically a bunch of people who had a vision sitting in a room throwing exciting and playful ideas into a pot and seeing what works. Then, it was about getting the participants involved, helping them see our vision, coordinating their needs and building the foundation to make a smooth and successful event.
What was your original vision for what you imagined Taste Talks to be? Do you feel like you guys were able to achieve that?
Our original vision was to bring together experts, local restaurants and talent to discuss the latest trends in food and drink and to celebrate Brooklyn. I think we have gone above and beyond this dream with the amazing chefs that have agreed to participate, like Paul Liebrandt of The Elm, Nate Smith of Allswell, and Joe Pasqualetto of Rucola.
How much convincing did it take for your big name chef friends to get involved with Taste Talks?
Everyone we asked was really excited about what we were trying to do. It really didn’t take much convincing except for their availability. We are hoping this will become an annual celebration of Brooklyn and trends in food, and I’m very excited to see where it might go and how it might grow.
How much input did you have on the subjects of the panels? Did you come up with potential topics and match industry folk to them, or did you approach certain people and hash out ideas together, or did everyone just take responsibility for coming up with their own topic?
It was basically just a lot of hashing. Daniel, my team and myself did a lot of brainstorming about what’s current, what interests people in regards to the food world, and what they would want to learn. Once we got the categories, that’s when we reached out to the talented people in that field, like Chris Lee, who will be teaching the art of making Italian salumi. There will also be panels on food photography, led by Daniel Krieger; coffee, by Oliver Strand; and the new and very refreshing idea of Cook it Raw with Alessandro Porcelli.