Foodies and locals flock to Red Hook’s first Food and Drink Crawl

The neighborhood buzzed with hungry local residents and newcomers, who came by bike, ferry and foot for the first annual Red Hook Food and Drink Crawl on July 28.

“People live here, but may not ever walk in to try the great food and drink that’s there,” said Nancie Katz, crawl organizer and executive director of Seeds in the Middle. “Red Hook is a beautiful place in the summer, especially on the waterfront, and it has a mix of old and new [eateries].”

This crawl, hosted by Tastes of Brooklyn, featured select foods and drinks from 13 neighborhood establishments. Attendees either paid $22 for four tastes or $54 for 11 tastes, having the freedom to create their own crawl path and culinary palette as they referred to their complimentary maps. Plus, there were special guided food tours with Airbnb Social Impact Experiences.

According to Katz, proceeds go to Seeds in the Middle, a non-profit organization that focuses on helping Brooklyn inner-city children eat healthy and lead healthy lifestyles. The crawl’s goals are two-fold: to support kids in food deserts through Seeds in the Middle programming and to promote small businesses and local culinary talent, in which new customers can come back again for more.

There was no entry fee for the businesses to participate; rather they donated their food and beverages for the fundraiser. For example, Wet Whistle Wines, which was the first place asked by Katz to participate, offered wine and cheese pairings. Brooklyn Icehouse had their pulled pork sandwiches, and Rocky Sullivan’s served spiked iced coffee for those 21 and up. Jam’It Bistro had their popular Jamaican sorrel juice at the Red Hook Art Project, and The Copper Pot offered sofrito beef empanadas and cheese and loroco pupusas. Other participants included Fort Defiance, Mark’s Red Hook Pizza, Red Hook Winery, San Pedro Inn, Steve’s Authentic Key Lime Pies, Sunny’s Bar, Van Brunt Stillhouse and Widow Jane Distillery.

It was also a great opportunity for kids to play free soccer, view art displays and go on a scavenger hunt for a few hours, thanks to Tastes of Brooklyn’s partnership with the Red Hook Art Project.

HISTORY

This was Tastes of Brooklyn’s fourth neighborhood crawl – with previous ones held in Gowanus, Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill and on Franklin Avenue in Crown Heights. Katz said she originally fashioned the crawl after the Taste of Tribeca Festival, which she helped at years ago when her children attended school in Manhattan. She later organized a crawl in Chelsea-the Meatpacking District to raise money for a public school’s art program, and founded the Tastes of Brooklyn Food Festival outside Borough Hall in 2011.

Katz then revisited the notion in 2014 when she noticed old Italian businesses disappearing from Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill, where she lives. She wanted to help keep small businesses like those alive, and reached out to D’Amico Coffee, Caputo Bake Shop and others to participate in her first Tastes of Brooklyn Crawl in Oct. 2016.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

The next crawls coming to your neighborhoods this fall are: Columbia Waterfront District (Sept. 14), Prospect Lefferts Gardens (Sept. 15), Gowanus (Sept. 21) and Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill (Oct. 5). For more information or to purchase tickets, visit tastesofbrooklyn.com.

Top photo of San Pedro Inn. Photo from Tastes of Brooklyn’s Facebook page

George Fiala

George Fiala has worked in radio, newspapers and direct marketing his whole life, except for when he was a vendor at Shea Stadium, pizza and cheesesteak maker in Lancaster, PA, and an occasional comic book dealer. He studied English and drinking in college, international relations at the New School, and in his spare time plays drums and fixes pinball machines.