New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul at Queens Day
Last Monday I attended the first ever Queens Day in Albany, sponsored by the Queens Chamber of Commerce and a number of Queens-located businesses. (Queens is one of the seven five boroughs of New York City.) A busload of Queens business stakeholders came up on a bus to spend the day with their elected representatives in the State Capitol, concluding with a reception at the Egg.
List of food and beverage partners at Queens Day 2017
So what was I doing there, you may ask? Well, the reception featured two dozen providers of Queens food and beverage products. My friends at Yelp thought that food bloggers might be interested in sampling, and I rose to the bait knowing that Queens features some of the greatest culinary diversity to be had anywhere. I was not disappointed.
The tasting highlights for me at the event were a/crema tamales from Tortilleria Nixtamal; b/sea bass dumplings from Dumpling Gallery; and c/the chance to drink pricey Finback IPA without paying for it. However, there were also goodie bags and the opportunity to take samples home, and that’s how I discovered Push Cart Pretzel Chips from New York Bakery Bites.
Product lineup from New York Bakery Bites as presented at Queens Day
What do you get when you mix crunchy pretzels into chocolate chip cookie dough? A product that has the taste of a good chocolate chip cookie, but a consistency closer to nut brittle. It resists your bite just enough that you are forced to eat your cookie in nibbles instead of gulping the sweet, gooey confection all at once. And this turns out to be the perfect way to enjoy a chocolate chip cookie.
The good news is that you can order Push Cart Pretzel Chips from the bakery’s website, and you don’t even have to pay shipping, so your cost is the same as if you bought them at the source. You do have to ordered four bags at one time at $5.99 each, which should not be a problem. I got two of the pretzel chips and one each of two other flavors, Big City Lemon and Double Dutch Chocolate.
Free Finback IPA at Queens Day
Back to Queens Day, the event was deemed a success and we were promised it will be back. There’s also a Brooklyn Day and a Bronx Day with a similar format. I have no idea how one gets invited to one of these things but there didn’t seem to be a gatekeeper; as long as you are genial and well kempt you will probably be welcome. If you’re local, watch the Albany news media for the next one.
7 Boroughs??? I thought it was 5 Boroughs – Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island. Friends have told me that Queens is the place to go for Chinese and Korean…forget about Manhattan. Glad you enjoyed and thanks for posting.
Ha ha, you nailed me. Will now correct. Yes, I have a long standing plan to stay at a Howard Johnson in downtown Flushing and walk the neighborhood stuffing myself with eclectic goodies.