Longhouse Food Revival 2015
The Longhouse Food Revival returns to Rensselaerville this weekend. This year's focus is the Chinese American experience. Blurbage for the Saturday program:
Located on a historic dairy farm in upstate New York, the LongHouse Food Revival combines original multimedia presentations, great discussions and insight from leading thinkers in food media today. It's a place to make new friends, forge new connections and cook up new ideas. Our meals are one-time, unscripted happenings that emanate from our Live Fire Cooking Arena -- you won't experience anything like this anywhere else. People leave LongHouse Food Revival with full bellies and full minds.
The weekend will kick off with a lunch of chun-bing, Northern China's version of a burrito, crafted from scratch and made-to-order by the young kitchen powerhouses from Junzi Kitchen of New Haven, CT.
After lunch, we'll gather in the barn for our Pop-Up Food Magazine, a series of multimedia presentations, original documentary films, presentations by authors, bloggers, publishers and producers, as well as spoken word and cooking demonstrations, to set the stage for an afternoon of discussion. The experience has been called magical by more than one hard-bitten veteran of the nation's food media corps.
One of the organizers of the event is author and former NYT food writer Molly O'Neill -- here's a video in which she explains the background.
There's also a Saturday evening dinner headed up by chef and author Kian Lam Kho -- "at the helm of a team of fearless chefs to orchestrate a spectacle of stir-frying, braising and steaming, offering a Chinese take on the bounty of the Hudson River Valley" ($125). And on Sunday there's a food flea event with 50 food entrepreneurs, farmers, and artisans ($25).
Tickets for the whole weekend are $250. That's not cheap, but we've heard from people who have attended in past years and they seemed to get a lot out of it, so it might be worth it if you're interested in these topics.
(Thanks, Deanna)
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Comments
I would love to get a report on what actually goes on. The website features an expensive session on how to build your brand as a food writer. There are some big corporate food names among the sponsors.
Yet the description of the Saturday dinner and "food flea" make it seem very feel-good and crunchy. What's the real Longhouse Revival and what's the best way to enjoy it?
... said Burnt My Fingers on Sep 9, 2015 at 4:44 PM | link
@BurntMyFingers -- I went last year, and it was a great experience. There is a closed media dinner with speakers and presenters on Friday night (invite only, I believe), but Saturday is open to anyone. The first part of the day was comprised of some cooking demos with some very lauded cooks and writers, presentations about the state of food, and then a great lunch. The afternoon was broken into workshops on social media, radio, etc., and there was lots of time to network. Dinner featured a hilarious debate between Kim Severson (NYT) and Kats Kinsman (was at CNN, now heads Tasting Table) on the superiority of beef vs pork. The food was unbelievable, prepped by JBF winners and Top Chef contestants. Sunday's flea also featured some further presentations and discussions touching on everything from how to taste and select olive oil to policy surrounding the meat industry. Everyone is very accessible and open, even though we've all got our hands in the same small pot.
The branding workshop, I believe, is an extension of Molly's Cook N Scribble writing school over the summer. It is technically separate from the actual Revival but the attendees still come and join in on the fun. The location is really beautiful, too (old converted dairy barn).
Some of the presenters this year, besides what is listed above, include our very own Amy Halloran (go Amy!!) alongside Jonathon Gold (LA Times food critic/Pulitzer winner) and Sara Kate Gillingham (TheKitchn).
If you have a chance to at least attend the flea, I highly recommend it. Hope to see you there!
... said Deanna on Sep 10, 2015 at 9:33 AM | link
I have been to the Longhouse Revival as well, and I'll be there this weekend because it's just an amazing weekend for those of us who love food and especially food stories. And I think that would very much be you, Burnt My Fingers.
People who produce food, people who are excellent at cooking food and people who write about food (and people who are learning to write well about food) and people who love to eat food all get together out on the farm and whoop it up by telling their stories, cooking, eating, performing, exhibiting and going away with LOTS of ideas for stories, and food, and cooking toys. And over the course of the weekend you get to know some of the most lovely people involved in all of the above.
My take is that spending all day Saturday and into the dinner on Saturday night is probably the best part. The sessions on Saturday afternoon are very energizing and give you ideas about who you want to talk with on Saturday night at dinner. All that makes Sunday the day that you aim yourself toward the people that you didn't get to talk with on Saturday.
... said LorreS on Sep 11, 2015 at 11:03 AM | link
Thanks Lorre and Deanna. I am committed elsewhere this weekend, but will now put Longhouse at the top of my list for next fall.
... said Burnt My Fingers on Sep 11, 2015 at 3:42 PM | link