WEBVTT - Celebrating NYC Food, Wine and Fun

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and

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<v Speaker 1>Tim Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 2>As you all know, we love, love, love talking food

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<v Speaker 2>and wine here at Bloomberg Business Week. It's always highlighted

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<v Speaker 2>in the Bloomberg Pursuit section of the magazine. With that

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<v Speaker 2>in mind, the Food Network New York City Wine and

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<v Speaker 2>Food Festival about to get underway. Have you ever gone?

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<v Speaker 1>I want to ask our next guest about it, because

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<v Speaker 1>I have not.

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<v Speaker 2>Shamefully, you're missing, missing I am. It's October twelfth through

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<v Speaker 2>the fifteenth brings together who's who in the food and

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<v Speaker 2>wine space. Chef's Danielle Boulu. We have had him on

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<v Speaker 2>our air many many winny more from the industries to

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<v Speaker 2>tell us about it is Lee Schrager, founder and executive

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<v Speaker 2>director of the New York City Wine and Food Festival,

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<v Speaker 2>joining us on zoom in New York City.

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<v Speaker 3>Lee, how are you good to see you ladies? How's

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<v Speaker 3>everything doing well?

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<v Speaker 2>Doing well? I feel like on a daily basis I

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<v Speaker 2>could use a good meal and a great glass of wine.

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<v Speaker 2>Having said that, you guys, bet are in what your

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<v Speaker 2>sixteenth year? Tell us about it? Remind us about how

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<v Speaker 2>it all came to be and how it's evolved and

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<v Speaker 2>your relationship with the Food Network and bringing this all

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<v Speaker 2>to life.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, sixteen years and you have not been once.

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<v Speaker 2>That is horrible. I've been to the Money.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't look at me.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been to the I've been to South Beach for

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<v Speaker 2>that version.

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<v Speaker 3>Okay, okay, Well that's how it all started. It started

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<v Speaker 3>actually in South Beach about twenty four years ago. Actually,

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<v Speaker 3>excuse me. We're going to our twenty three third year

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<v Speaker 3>in February and South Beach and I started that really

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<v Speaker 3>just after attending the Aspen Wine and Food Festival about

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<v Speaker 3>twenty five years ago. I remember flying home, and that's

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<v Speaker 3>before the days of cell phones and Instagram, and I

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<v Speaker 3>remember kind of making notes saying, Wow, this is an

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<v Speaker 3>amazing event and it would be great in South Beach.

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<v Speaker 3>And that's how it all started. So I waited about

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<v Speaker 3>five or six years after I really felt comfortable in

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<v Speaker 3>New York City before, after I felt comfortable in South Beach,

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<v Speaker 3>before I went ahead and launched the New York City Wine.

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<v Speaker 2>And Food Festival.

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<v Speaker 3>So you know, as you mentioned, it's celebrating sixteen years.

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<v Speaker 3>We are eating, drinking, and feeding New York City. The

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<v Speaker 3>proceeds from the festival benefit God's Love. We deliver an

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<v Speaker 3>amazing not the profit that you know, delivers food and

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<v Speaker 3>nutritionally balanced food and medically talented meals for people who can't,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, prepare their own food in New York City.

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<v Speaker 3>And it's kicking off next Thursday and through the sixteenth.

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<v Speaker 3>We have about one hundred events, everything from about forty

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<v Speaker 3>five small intimate dinners with chefs like Danielle Valoude and

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<v Speaker 3>Jean Jre Vanderkin and Lendu Cass and Michael White and

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<v Speaker 3>Tyler Flawrence and all those John Frasier. We have great

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<v Speaker 3>late night signature events at the Intrepids here. We're kicking

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<v Speaker 3>off on Thursday night with a big Italian feast hosted

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<v Speaker 3>by Alex Garnachelly from the Food Network. Friday night is

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<v Speaker 3>our Big Burger Bash hosted by Rachel Ray. Saturday night

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<v Speaker 3>is a big Taco event hosted by the cast of

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<v Speaker 3>The Kitchen from the Network along with Aaron Paul and

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<v Speaker 3>Brian Cranston will be there co hosting that event and

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<v Speaker 3>sampling their mescal. And on Sunday, we are celebrating fifty

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<v Speaker 3>years of hip hop with a great hip hop event

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<v Speaker 3>about twenty five of the New York Area's greatest black chefs,

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<v Speaker 3>MC by Cameron Hall and Angela Yee, with for special

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<v Speaker 3>performances by Revron and DJ Cassidy and Iced Tea. So

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<v Speaker 3>brand new event for us, we couldn't be more excited

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<v Speaker 3>to be celebrating hip hop.

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<v Speaker 2>I will say yes, yes, and yes, it's funny that

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<v Speaker 2>you say the Big Burger Bash, because I remember being there.

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<v Speaker 2>We did a broadcast from the South Beach one in

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<v Speaker 2>Food Festival, I think it was back in twenty fourteen,

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<v Speaker 2>and I remember doing a piece on the burger competition

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<v Speaker 2>and talking to Rachel about it and Chrissy Teagan was

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<v Speaker 2>a judge, and it was just it was this wonderful

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<v Speaker 2>atmosphere of food and wine and partying and just music

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<v Speaker 2>and it was really interesting. I'm curious, though, why why

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<v Speaker 2>South Beach first? And then why you kind of waited

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<v Speaker 2>a little bit before coming into New York.

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<v Speaker 3>Well two good answers for that. A. I live in

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<v Speaker 3>South Florida, so I started there. B Because nothing is

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<v Speaker 3>easy in New York.

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<v Speaker 1>And I really want say that again.

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<v Speaker 3>I really wanted to make sure we kind of worked

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<v Speaker 3>everything out before we went into a city that really

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<v Speaker 3>was not forgiving in the sense, you know, they expect

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<v Speaker 3>the best, and I wanted to deliver the best. So

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<v Speaker 3>when I felt comfortable that we were as good as

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<v Speaker 3>we were going to get or as good as we

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<v Speaker 3>could get, to start moving forward and I felt comfortable,

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<v Speaker 3>that's how it happened.

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<v Speaker 1>So Lee asking for a friend here, obviously, But if

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<v Speaker 1>you've never been to the Food Festival, the Food and

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<v Speaker 1>Wine Festival, sorry, what would you tell somebody a newcomer,

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<v Speaker 1>what to expect, how to prepare, how much to budget

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<v Speaker 1>for something like this, and what kind of events should

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<v Speaker 1>you really be zooming in on. It seems like there's

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<v Speaker 1>just so much to choose from in so little time,

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<v Speaker 1>and so.

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<v Speaker 3>I would really if it's if you're a first timer.

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<v Speaker 3>You know a lot of people who come for the

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<v Speaker 3>first time want to try so many things, and although

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<v Speaker 3>we would like to sell a lot of tickets to you,

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<v Speaker 3>I'd rather you do less and appreciate it because it

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<v Speaker 3>gets exhausting. If you're doing a runch next Friday with

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<v Speaker 3>Martha Stewart and Daniel Blow with Tiffany, and then you're

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<v Speaker 3>going to go to the Grand Tasting in the daytime,

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<v Speaker 3>then you're going to go to the Bergabash at night time.

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<v Speaker 3>That's a lot, and I think it's too much. So

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<v Speaker 3>I always say to somebody, pick a daytime event and

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<v Speaker 3>one nighttime event, or a daytime event and one late

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<v Speaker 3>night event, or a dinner event and a late night event,

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<v Speaker 3>and really enjoy it. You know, wear comfortable shoes, drink responsibly,

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<v Speaker 3>and you know, don't overdo it. And you know there's

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of food, there's a lot of drink. New

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<v Speaker 3>York City is not easy to get around with traffic,

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<v Speaker 3>so I kind of pick where. You know, even myself,

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<v Speaker 3>I pick where I'm going and keep to one keep

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<v Speaker 3>to an area every night. So I try to maximize

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<v Speaker 3>the events I can go.

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<v Speaker 2>Tole We just got about forty five seconds. How do

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<v Speaker 2>you figure out where you want to focus from year

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<v Speaker 2>to year? Are there certain trends out there? Because there's

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<v Speaker 2>certain mainstays, it sounds like, and then there's certain new

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<v Speaker 2>things that you introduce.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, we always want to bring back the classics, things

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<v Speaker 3>like the Taco Event and the Burger Bash, and like

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<v Speaker 3>the hip Hop is new it was you know, it's

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<v Speaker 3>the anniversary of hip hop. So I really felt that

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<v Speaker 3>we should capitalize that and you know, really promote diversity,

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<v Speaker 3>which is so important to us. So we'll always want

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<v Speaker 3>to keep it fresh, not only for my team and myself,

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<v Speaker 3>but for the consumers. So you know, I think by

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<v Speaker 3>keeping it fresh, we continue to be motivated and excited

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<v Speaker 3>and our consumers who were buying our tickets remain the same.

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<v Speaker 2>All Right, We're going to come back with Lee Schrager.

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<v Speaker 2>He's founder and executive director of the New York City

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<v Speaker 2>Wine and Food Festival and our thanks to him. Be

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<v Speaker 2>sure to check out the festival October twelfth through the fifteenth,

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<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty three. Of course this year, and he was

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<v Speaker 2>joining us on Zoom in New York City. You can

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<v Speaker 2>also check out more online about all of the days

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<v Speaker 2>in the programming