10 Tips On How To Actually Enjoy The Gilroy Garlic Festival

From the first moment many years ago when I heard about the Gilroy Garlic Festival – a festival designed to celebrate garlic in all of its many uses – I knew I had to go at least once in my life. I am a garlic-lover after all, even though you may recall that my recent visit to a world famous garlic-centric restaurant in San Francisco ended with disastrous results. But, I figured if any place could redeem the concept of garlic worship, the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival would be it. My move this year to San Francisco put me in close enough proximity to this Winston Wanders bucket list destination and provided the perfect opportunity to make my much-awaited garlicky pilgrimage to the Garlic Capital of the World.

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If You Want Great Food, Go to the Airport

As a recent transplant from NYC to San Francisco with plenty of reasons to be back in NYC often, JetBlue‘s brand new Mint service definitely had my attention right out the gate. It’s a premium service flight offered only between New York JFK and San Francisco SFO or JFK and Los Angeles LAX. Considering that most of my family is still in the New York area (and I frequently need to fly between SFO and JFK), it feels almost as if this service was designed specifically for me.

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Fútbol & Foreign Food Truck Frenzy at SoMa StrEat Food

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If you’re looking to watch the World Cup in San Francisco you’ve certainly got plenty of options. In my mind, the most obvious two would be at home if you want to watch alone or at a sports bar if you want to watch in public. But if you’re looking for something a little different and also want a variety of unique food options and even more importantly want to be outdoors, read on!

In the shadow of both a highway and a gigantic Costco, in a remote corner of town that could barely still be called SoMa, there’s a really incredible place worth trekking to called SoMa StrEat Food. It’s a large, triangular outdoor lot that draws plenty of young, hip yuppies for food, drink, and various forms of entertainment.

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Finding the Best Conch in Turks & Caicos

This vacation couldn’t have come at a better time. As the entire country fell into a below-zero deep freeze, I was headed for some sun and heat in Turks & Caicos with my girlfriend Amy and her family.

Day 1:

We were staying at the beautiful Grace Bay Club, right on the incredible beach in Providenciales, Turk & Caicos. Upon arrival, we immediately hit the gym to preempt the impending bodily destruction. I had two missions on this trip. 1) To return with the tan of a golden god. 2) To eat as much conch – the local shellfish specialty – in as many ways as humanly possible.

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A Very Andrew Zimmern Oktoberfest at NYCWFF 2013

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To continue where we left off, I had the pleasure of attending two New York City Wine & Food Festival events this year. I’ve already told you all about my experience at the Thrillist’s Barbecue & The Blues event and now I get to tell you all about another fun Oktoberfest event.

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Thrillist’s Barbecue & The Blues with Robert Irvine at NYCWFF 2013

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This year I had the pleasure of experiencing two of the many events being held for New York City Wine & Food Festival. This is a massive three-day festival with with well over 50 different events taking place in a variety of locations around the city. Over the weekend, my girlfriend Amy and I attended two of the events, first on Friday night up near Columbus Circle for Thrillist’s Barbecue & The Blues hosted by Robert Irvine followed by Sunday in Astoria, Queens for Oktoberfest presented by Pat LaFrieda Meats and hosted by Andrew Zimmern. To say I was excited about attending each of these events would be an understatement.

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Austin City Limits 2013

I know you all usually come here to read about food, but every now and then I want to share something with you that I think is really cool that’s not directly related to eating. I just returned from a week in Texas, and started in Austin for a 3-day music festival called Austin City Limits. They have 8 large stages playing a wide variety of music all-day, for all three days. That is, usually for three days.

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Little Italy’s Annual Street Fair: The Feast of San Gennaro 2013

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One week a year (well really 10 days but who’s counting), Mulberry street transforms into a perpetual street fair to celebrate Italian culture and cuisine at The Feast of San Gennaro. I usually stumble my way over there to check out the madness and this year is no different. With a number of coworkers in tow, I head over on a leisurely Thursday, lunchtime stroll. The fair runs the entire seven block span from Canal Street to Houston Street up Mulberry. The usually vehicle-friendly street is turned into a pedestrian-only walkway with most of the restaurants installing al fresco dining areas in the street in front of their shops.

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Step into the 20’s in NYC at the Jazz Age Lawn Party 2013

Once a year, this amazing event rolls through NYC. It takes place on Governor’s Island and most people dress up like it’s the 1920s. There’s a 1920s style band, a dance floor, dance competitions, food, and cocktails from the era sponsored by St. Germain. It’s an all around awesome event with plenty of opportunities to get great photos.

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