Let me back up a little. Last night, I had a chance to check out the humorously satirical Mooga Shmooga Twitter account as well as the #googamooga feed, so I had a good idea of a lot of the negatives and planned accordingly:

1. I got to the festival at 11:30am when they were NO LINES FOR ANYTHING.
2. I hit up the vendors that were more likely to sell out.
3. I worked around the lack of cell phone service by having a meetup point for my friends in the event we ever got separated. This is also a plus because I just turned my phone on Airplane Mode to take pictures and enjoy the moment without Twitter or text message distractions.
4. More importantly, I entered the festival grounds knowing that it was SOLD OUT, so lines and crowds are to be expected.

All this being said, I had such an amazing time. Great food. Perfect musical accompaniment. Incredible company with me.  Also, it seemed like Superfly adapted overnight based on the feedback and addressed a lot of the larger issues on Sunday (except for cell phone service, which was pretty much out of their hands as getting a cell phone tower wasn’t gonna happen overnight).

My girlfriend and her friend Alex pretty much shared everything listed below (in chronological eating order):

• Dirty Duck Dog from Craft > Glad I got it, but nothing special.  Lacked a heavy duck flavor, but the slaw was crunchy and refreshing on top
• Pastrami Sandwich from Mile End > Juicy, but not too fatty and just big enough to sample (Honorable Mention)
• Crawfish from Crawfish Monica (#2) > Crawfish and macaroni with a creamy cajun sauce that had the perfect amount of kick.
• Oaxaca Grilled Cheese from Little Muenster (PICTURED BELOW) > With a dash of hot sauce on top, it was a crispy, crunchy, fresh and gooey delicious sandwich
• Strawberry Rhubarb pop from People’s Pops > Fresh palate cleanser
• Roasted Chicken, Mac n Greens, and Corn Bread from Red Rooster Harlem (PICTURED BELOW) > Chicken (especially the sauce) was simply amazing and was a much cheaper version of what’s in the restaurant ($11 vs $28) (#1)
• Fried Chicken Banh Mi from Joseph Leonard > Crunchy but not too greasy with perfect ciabatta bread.  I also hate mayo, but found their cilantro aioli to be a tasty condiment.
• Lemon Ginger Soda from Brooklyn Soda Works > Pre-dessert refreshment
• Dirt-Cake from Katzie Guy-Hamilton (#3) > Someone walked by me with this clear cup filled with what appeared to be chocolate in four forms.  I stopped her and asked what it was and she told me it was a Dirt-Cake.  There was chocolate pudding, chocolate cake, chocolate crumbles, chocolate malt balls, orange curd (or something similar), butterscotch, gummy worms, and topped with whipped cream.  Nice balance of flavors and when shared with two other people, I didn’t feel like shit.

Oaxaca Grilled Cheese

Top 10 Best Roast Chicken I’ve ever had. Moist with a DELICIOUS sauce.

ART MEETS FOOD.

Relaxing by the Marketplace

As for the music, I wasn’t disappointed in what I saw.  To quote my girlfriend, future BBS band Lucius was an enjoyable mix of the 60′s and 80′s.  Couldn’t agree more.  And then Charles Bradley hit the stage shortly after who was amazing.  Incredible band chemistry, stage presence, energy level, and what a voice!  By the time Fitz and the Tantrums hit the stage, I was fairly burnt out from the day, so I just laid out and relaxed in the sun before heading out around 5pm.

All in all, my friends and I had a blast.  I will definitely go back next year (assuming they’re doing it again and that they change up the vendors).

So I’m proud to announce a few confirmations so far for this summer.  They’re all drastically different, but all make sense for the stripped down format.  Please let me know what you think…

RUBBELBUCKET:  I was out to lunch yesterday with our rock star photographer Dominick and told him about my love for them.  I described them as a hippie meets hipster version of the Talking Heads but wayyyyy less serious.  Fun note:  I have seen them over 15 times since they opened up for a band I used to book in Philly almost 4 years ago.

LUCIUS:  A few friends told me about them and it wasn’t until tonight doing research that I noticed I actually saw them a few months ago opening for Other Lives.  Their sound is old, but new.  Folky, but soulful.  Quirky, but poppy and upbeat.  BONUS:  they’re playing Googa Mooga at 12pm on Sunday.

JONES STREET STATION:  New York is such a small place where you can a good friend and a co-worker’s boyfriend in the same band.  For me, that’s JSS.  They’re 4 friends (+ a rotating cast of drummers) playing, singing, and having a good time.  It’s enjoyable bluegrassy rock n folk.  Their gem is this unplugged tune that they end each show with.

There’s still more to be announced, but let me know what you think of the the selections so far and feel free to leave additional recommendations in the comments!

As a bonus, I’ll even share a few meals I might make (with my own surprise twist of course):

• Mishmash:  dish of origin from Montreal – extremely unhealthy scramble of multiple meats, eggs, potatoes, and assorted veggies
• Breakfast sesame pancakes:  your favorite Chinese sandwiches made for breakfast
• Biscuits and gravy:  it won’t be the usual biscuit and won’t be a typical gravy

More importantly, I have a few artists in mind that I will contact, but I always value the opinions of people I trust, so please comment below or email me any and all artist recommendations to backyardsessions274ATgmail.com.

Complete side note:  so happy for Givers for getting their song “Up Up Up” on Glee.  I’m not a fan of that show, but if they reap 1/100ooo0th of the benefit that fun. had for “We Are Young” being on the show, they’ll be getting the attention they deserve.

Succotash is a traditional Native American dish with corn, lima beans, bear fat, and some form of meat (often DOG). However, I can’t easily access bear meat and eating dog is something I will never knowingly do. That being said, I had been trying to use a leftover duck and heirloom beans, so I made this dish my own.

I got the duck from Hong Kong Supermarket in Chinatown a few months ago for $10. I thawed it in a large bowl with water for 2 hours.

The heirloom beans were from a Napa farm called Rancho Gordo and were given to my roommate by a family friend from California. I haven’t seen them around Williamsburg except Brooklyn Kitchen ($6.99 a bag).

A few hours before I began cooking, I picked up a few new used vinyls, so they became the soundtrack for cooking: Chicago’s “II” (this album is a nice balance of jazzy, classical, and rock), Joe Cocker’s “Stingray” (stand out track was Dylan’s The Man In Me, which was arranged by Peter Tosh), The Moody Blues’ “Every good boy deserves favour” (what can I say, they’re the band my Dad spoon fed me as a child), and Stanley Clarke’s “Journey to Love” (features Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Jeff Beck, and Lenny White).

Now onto the recipe–

Soaking the beans

To cut down on the cooking and help kickstart the expansion process for the beans, you gotta soak them. Overnight or a minimum of 6 hours is preferred. Although, since this was a game time decision, I only soaked for 3 hours and it turned out just fine.

Roast Duck

Clean out the skin and inside of the duck. Pat it down until dry. Sprinkle salt and pepper onto skin. I used the rack from my toaster oven and placed it over a medium roast pan. I added water to the pan before placing the duck on top.

I was going for pulled pork vibe for this dish, so I roasted the duck at 375° flipping sides every 30 minutes for anywhere from 2-3 hours depending on the size of the duck. Pay very close attention to the duck when you take it out to flip for the 4th and 5th time to make sure you’re not overcooking it.

Wait 15 minutes for duck to cool down and then cut off the meat. Pull apart the meat (if it’s been cooked properly this task should be fairly easy), place in grease pan, and wait for the beans to cook.

Boiling the beans

Once the beans have been soaked, rinse them off them place them into boiling water. I added some of the delicious duck grease to the water. Once adding the beans bring them back to boil then bring down the temperature to low medium. Depending on how you long soaked the beans and the kind of bean, they should take anywhere from 10-30 minutes. My beans were close to 20 minutes and wouldn’t have known they were cooked properly unless I tasted them a few times for correct softness. Strain the beans once they’re done cooking.

Final steps

In the same pot I cooked the beans in, I added back the beans, pulled duck, salt, pepper, sauteed onions, fresh garlic, chilli flakes, a heavy portion of nutmeg, and a drizzle of olive oil. Stir everything together and you’re ready to serve.

I served this dish on top of brown rice with a side of sauteed yellow squash.

My sister and I have been to many places in the past.  However, unlike myself, she only goes to places once.  I don’t agree with it, but it’s a barrier that diminishes the amount of places we can go (which is a shame for her friend Rachel who has never even been to Brooklyn before).  That being said, this is what I’m recommending for us:

• Blue Bottle for Coffee
• Peter Pan Bakery for Donuts
• Egg for Cheese Grits and eggs
• Pies n Thighs for Chicken Biscuit
• Four & Twenty Blackbird for Pie
• Dumont for Mac & Cheese
• Roberta’s for Pizza (note:  Motorino’s in Williamsburg obviously closed and she’s been to Grimaldi’s before)
• The Islands for Jerk
• Fette Sau for smoked meat
• Meatball Shop
• Noorman’s Kill for whisky and grilled cheese

We’ll have a car, so no place is out of bounds or too far away.  Please comment and make any recommendations you have in place of or addition to my itinerary in the event you know some shit I don’t.  For tomorrow only, nothing is too fatty or too weird to eat.  We’re game for anything.

In regards to last night in particular, I made bourbon apple sauce to compliment my homemade latkes.  Likes usual, it didn’t follow a recipe or anything.  I had a good idea of what I was going to do, so I improvised, took a taste test, and tweaked as needed.  Below is most like the best recipe you’re gonna get from me for this:

• Portion 1/2 apple per person, so I used 6 apples (specifically Honeycrisp).  Cut into chunks and add to medium saucepan.
• Add apple cider (I used Red Jacket Orchards) until it covers 80% of the apples (alternative:  mix in water if you don’t like it as sweet).
• Dash in spices to taste (in order of how heavy I used them):  cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and allspice (optional addition:  brown sugar if you like it sweeter).  Please splash mixture around and taste before going overboard with the spices.
• Add bourbon (I used Brooklyn’s own Kings County Distillery) until it covers 90% of the apples.
• Bring mixture to boil, then simmer until apples are soft, and take off burner.
• Use potato masher to crush apples to preferred texture (alternate:  some people like to blend it for a creamier texture)
• Add two shots of bourbon for an extra kick, put lid back on, wait for it to naturally cool down, then serve!!!!

It tastes as good as it sounds, so give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Just looking at the schedule, a nice mesh of electronic sub-genres from psychedelic masters The Flaming Lips to the electro hip-hop stylings of Flying Lotus.  Needless to say, there was plenty for us to see.

When we got to town, the first thing we wanted to do was eat.  Raki and I delicious meal at The Market Place after some quick consultation with Yelp because of their mission to support local farmers.  Our choice was well through out:  grilled flatbread, roasted parsnip soup, seared yellowfin tuna, and pan roasted duck breast.  By far, the best thing we ate was the soup.  It was smooth, creamy (without any cream), refreshing, and slightly sweet (because of the apples).

After dinner, we headed over to Civic Center for Holy Fuck for some weird instrumental live electronics.  It had been over 3 years since I saw them open up for MIA at Drexel University and I could definitely see their musical growth and stage presence.

A few minutes later, I got a text message from Daytrotter’s Sean Moeller to tell me that he was recording Mayer Hawthorne at a nearby studio.  Having been to some of the finest studios in the northeast, I’m fairly confident in saying that Echo Mountain has amazing equipment, great acoustics, and a really mellow, talented staff helming all the gear.

When their set was over, we made our way back to the Civic Center for a trio of amazing performances:  Tangerine Dream (which Raki fell asleep at), Flying Lotus, and TV On The Radio.  I had never seen or heard of Tangerine Dream before, but they’re apparently a 35-year old ambient group and rarely perform let alone in the US (listen to their 2 hour set here).  I totally zoned out when we sat down and the next thing I know, it had been 30 minutes.

We passed out around 2am, woke up early, grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed to the Biltmore Estate, which a HUGE 120,000 acre plot of land owned by the Vanderbilt family, which contains a ginormous castle-esque home, farm, winemaking facility, forest, and pond (see pictures at the bottom).  Despite the surprisingly cold weather, we trekked throughout the property and made the best of our time.

Saturday night was filled with more food (Laughing Seed Cafe) and music.  Laughing Seed was an inferior version of Williamsburg’s Bliss, but still a solid meal.  As for the music, we hit up Amon Tobin, St. Vincent, Toro Y Moi, and STS9.

Amon Tobin’s performance was mind blowing.  He was hidden inside this moveable cube that had trippy projections on it.  The visuals matched the glitchy bass-heavy electronic music.

St. Vincent was such a blast.  Annie is such a talented, fun, and appreciative artist.  And her accompanying band rocked out a lot harder than I expected focusing mostly on newer songs (off of “Strange Mercy”), which I loved.

It was great to see Toro Y Moi for multiple reasons.  I love his albums, but his solo live set was awful last year when he opened for Ruby Suns.  Seeing him with a full band helped fill a lot of the missing textures that were missing the first time around.  Secondly, it was great to meet Michael from Consequence of Sound and catch up in person after having been on email with him for months for my day job.

As for STS9, I’ve said this for years:  they play intelligent, layered electronic music with the emotional builds of post-rock, but have unfortunately not grown out of the jamband scene.  Their Moog set was first time I had seen them live since 2005.  It started off with a cover of NIN’s Closer followed by songs off their new EP as well some of my old favorites.  I left their set a little early around 1:15am completely satisfied and ready for bed.

After all that music, we woke up the next morning and ate breakfast at Tupelo Honey Cafe, which was one of the best meals we had all vacation.  In the slideshow below, you can see Raki (trying to) devour the huge sweet potato, pecan, and oats pancake (with emphasis on cake).  As for me, I had fried chicken and biscuits with white gravy and a side of goat cheese grits.

We went for a quick walk around town to help us digest the massive brunch and then made our way to Moog store to say goodbye.  Inside the Moog store, Dan Deacon and Alan Palomo (aka Neon Indian) did an improvised Moog demonstration that was completely about sound exploration leaving any sort of song structure at the door.

Finally, we headed out of town for on a 9-hour journey of mountainous Blue Ridge Parkway down into South Carolina (briefly) and back up to Durham.  We stumbled on waterfalls, mountain peaks, dams, and the random town of Hendersonville, NC for some tasty food.

Overall, I was happy to have had a reason to go Asheville because it was beautiful and filled with such nice people and an appreciation for fine art, food, and culture in general.  As for the festival itself.  It was perfectly run, great lineup of respected and upcoming and coming electronic artists, and attendance grew from 25,000 in 2010 to over 30,000 in 2011 (exact attendance TBA).  But the one major thing I realized for the future is to refrain from inviting my girlfriend to another electronic music festival.

For those who don’t know me personally, I recently relocated about 5 blocks down the street in Williamsburg.  To despite all the upgrades, there is no backyard.  In comes my co-worker Michael.  He would bring these delicious Green Zebra tomatoes to the office that I would eat like apples.  When I finally came to his apartment to see his backyard a month or so ago, my jaw dropped.  How could people in the East Village live like this?  I thought that that rustic outdoorsy environment could only be found in Brooklyn.  I told him about the show and we finally work out a date for me to host at his apartment.

I picked up Aly from her Greenpoint apartment around 11:30am.  We had the car ride to shave off any awkward initial conversation that usually absorb the early parts of filming, so when it came time to press record we had a decent rapport to work off of.  This is essential and has often been missed in many episodes (I won’t name names).

I offered up four different kind of grilled cheese french toast:

1. Brie and apple with drizzled honey and sprinkled cinnamon
2. Marissa (cave aged sheep) and four fruit jam
3. Rupert (semi soft cow) with green zebra tomatoes
4. Goat cheese with caramelized onions

My process was as follows:

• leave bread out over night to make it stale, which makes it easier to absorb egg batter
• for me, egg batter consists of eggs and whole milk beaten thoroughly (and don’t get egg shells in the batter!!!)

• dip bread into batter and let sit for a minute to absorb
• while bread is in batter, heat pan with a healthy dollop of butter
• add soaked bread to pan, brown one side, and then sear the other side just long enough so that it’s not gooey from batter

• take bread out of pan and place on a cutting board brown side up
• add cheese and additional ingredients and put other bread on top having the brown sides on the inside (this will melt cheese quicker and make sure egg is cooked)

• place sandwich back in pan with more butter and brown both sides of the sandwich
• ENJOY!

7 sticks of butter and 5 cartons of eggs later, I had made 16 grilled cheese french toast sandwiches.

While people were munching down on the sandwiches, Boy Without God opened the night with an amazing set of what I like to call Bon Iver if Justin Vernon had the voice of Randy Newman.

After another round of Grilled Cheese French Toast, Aly hit the stage and blew us all away.  Jonas, lawyer/audiotaper extraodinaire, said it the best on his post (and you can download her set for free), “her playing is the equal of that lovely gravel in her voice, taking abrupt and unexpected twists in time and tempo.”

This was everything I had hoped for in a closing session.  Good food.  Good people.  Great music.  And amazing weather.

All photos by Dominick Mastrangelo.

• it was going to rain (note:  it ended up not raining after all)
• I was moving and wanted to make sure I didn’t risk messing up the backyard

Myself, Jonas, Eric, Pamela from Telextile, and Jared from Minerva Lions brainstormed for a bit until Jared made the recommendation of The Richardson, which is a speakeasy-type bar not that far from my old apartment (yes, I officially moved).  Funny enough, I made a stop at The Richardson on my first date with my girlfriend, so I figured why not host a session there.  Our vibes were the same (urban, rustic, playful) and they have a great back space that would be perfect for us.

After talking with Joel (the owner), the venue was settled.  Now, the issue was finding something to eat that would be something new, something simple, and something easily eaten/disposable.  After a convo with Pamela we landed on the genre of raw food and then it hit me:  white gazpacho.

I literally had never heard of or tried white until a few weeks prior after going to a work event with Geoffrey Zakarian (from TV’s Chopped and Next Iron Chef).  I took the recipe that he gave me and make it my own:

The Core -

• Organic skinless seedless white grapes (alternative:  watermelon)
• Roasted Organic almonds
• Organic seedless skinless cucumber

The spices and liquids -

• Grapeseed Oil
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Verjus
• Garlic
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cream (alternatives:  milk, sour cream, non-dairy milk substitutes)

The wild card -

• Pineapple mint (thanks my old friend Josh Greenfield’s rooftop garden) — a cool alternative could be ginger

Around 12:30pm Pamela rolled to my house wearing a vintage red dress, black boots, and carried a “I’m sorry I’m late, but I’m so excited to be here” smile on her.  After 15 minutes chatting and giving her my shpeal, we got to cooking.

We prepared the gazpacho in under 30 minutes because all it takes it skinning the grapes (note:  taking the skin off is the only time consuming thing in this recipe), peeling/chopping the cucumber, and throwing everything in a blender.  Then all you have to do is let it chill for at least an hour in the fridge.  THAT’S IT!  So simple.  So tasty.

Around 2:30pm I started to serve the meal.  Within 15 minutes all the gazpacho was gone because it was that super tasty and more people showed up than expected.

Around 3:15pm, Pamela’s band took “stage” along the back wall of the back room at The Richardson.  Pamela, standing up, began stomping and clapping slow and quietly as she began singing “Heartquake” alone.

After the brief, but powerful solo song, Pamela sat down, grabbed her harp, and the rest of her band joined her for “What If You.”

The rest of their five-song set was filled with quiet intensity and melodic tranquility compliments of Pamela’s harp and accordian as well as the rest of her 4-piece band.

Finally Minerva Lions hit the “stage” a little after 3:45 shortly before frontman Jared Samuel technically had to leave for a gig playing wedding, but to paraphrase Jared, “that’s what pays the bills.  This is what I love, so I’m not leaving until the set is over.”

Armed with a guitar and a cordless vintage keyboard, Jared lead his band through their 6-song set, which was a combination of originals and a few choice covers including a old favorite of mine — Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cook Original).

Their sound pretty much embodies the earthy soul of The Band as well as the airy guitar sound of Daniel Lanois (producer of U2).  As Jonas said, they’re an ” all-American music experience.”

Even though I moved, this won’t be the last BBS.  I promise…

In the meantime, you can download both sets for free at NYCTaper:  Telextile and Minerva Lions.  In addition, we’ll be releasing new videos in the next few weeks, so stayed tuned on our Youtube page.

All audio by Jonas Blank for NYCTaper.com.  All photos by Dominick Mastrangelo.

Local food is something I’m very passionate about.  It has been integrated as much as possible in the recipes and vendors I work with including Union Square Greenmarket, McCarren Park, and the various non-farmer food vendors I meet at Brooklyn Flea/Smorgasburg.

On September 21, Just Food will be having their major event of the season called Let Us Eat Local featuring food from local farmers, vendors, and restaurants.  In addition, there will be an auction for everything from tasting menus at high end restaurants to cooking classes.

The catch is that the event is $175, but I justify the cost for 3 reasons:

1. you’ll have a chance to try amazing food
2. you’ll support an honorable non-profit
3. $110 of the cost is tax-deductable

Interested?  At the very least poke your head around their site and see for yourself whether it’s a cause worth supporting.