The Food and Drink Festival of the year was this weekend… were you there?
How long would you wait for food? I waited two years. Ever since I found out about the 2016 Vegandale Food Drink festival, I have been itching to attend. The festival happens annually in Toronto, Houston, Chicago and New York. Last year, the festival in New York lasted only one day. There weren’t many food vendors there and an overwhelming amount of people resulted in long lines, over 50 vegans deep. This year, Vegandale NY was two days long with over 125 vendors/sponsors in attendance. Vegandale was ready, and so was I.
I was invited to Vegandale by my cousin, Christine and we were joined by her two friends Via and Danielle, and my boyfriend, Theo. Christine and her friends have a passion for a plant-based lifestyle. Likewise, I became a vegetarian when I was 5, and two years ago, I made the switch to a vegan lifestyle. Theo on the other hand, enjoys his chicken nuggets but always keeps an open mind when it comes to trying new foods. When we all arrived on Randall’s Island Park, I was in awe at the amount of people at the festival. Food trucks and white pop-up tents lined the perimeter of an open field and at the far end, a DJ stage was blasting music for the whole festival. There weren’t enough picnic tables in center of the field to fit everyone so most people sat on the ground, admiring their vegan creations.
These past few months, I have been following @vegandalefestival on Instagram and my mouth watered with every food post. So when I got to the festival, I knew exactly what I wanted and what to look for. It was a maze at first, so naturally I was frustrated on an empty stomach, but it wasn’t long before I found my first dish of the day: “Chickun Mac N’ Cheese”. A bowl was filled to the brim and all $17 worth of the Southern Fried Vegan chickun balanced on top of a hot mound of cheesy pasta. For someone like Theo, a college student who eats a fair amount of mac n’ cheese, this tasted different. To me, this was well worth the wait.
My next task was to find the jackfruit creations from Freakin’ Vegan. The “Pulled Pork Jackfruit Sliders” served with coleslaw and a side of mac n’ cheese was the next dish to tickle my taste buds. The texture and color of the jack fruit made it look just like real pork so I was a little hesitant to bite into it at first. But after all, I was at a vegan festival so everything was cruelty-free, and it would be a sick joke if some vendor were to actually serve meat at Vegandale. According to my personal mac n’ cheese connoisseur, Freakin’ Vegan had a delicious version of mac n’ cheese and it “looked better than the first” mac n’ cheese Theo and I had shared.
To wrap up the festival, I was on a hunt to find the Japanese-inspired bubble waffle cone vegan ice-cream masterpiece formerly known as “Eggloo”. During my long wait in line, Christine summed up Vegandale in a few short words: “Vegandale Fest so far is pretty awesome, I’m kinda full but I need ice-cream.” And that’s exactly what we got. My bubble waffle cone was filled with pistachio almond milk ice-cream topped with shaved coconut, crushed Oreos and chocolate drizzle. It was the perfect way to end the day.
I believe Vegandale is for everyone and there are food options for all to try. Even someone who is not a vegetarian/vegan can enjoy the culinary works from vendors like By CHLOE, Arlos, Mythology, No Bones Beach Club, Outlawz, These Wingz?, Urban Originals, Vegan Power Co, Juice Press, The Imperative, and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream among so many others. An event like Vegandale Fest is a great way to open one’s mind to new food options and as for someone looking for great vegan recipes, Vegandale is the place to be.