On July 9th, while guests enjoy an amazing feast, more than 35 area chefs will gather at the Montclair Art Museum to create the best barbecue dish at the Montclair Food and Wine Festival’s summer event, BBQ, Bourbon & Biergarten.
The winner will claim the one-of-a-kind trophy designed by chef Francesco Palmieri of Bloomfield’s the Orange Squirrel, who serves as president of the Montclair Food and Wine Festival.
The hand-welded metal trophy is part beer keg, part bourbon barrel and “sort of like the Stanley Cup,” says the festival’s executive director, Diane Biancamano.
“Once you win this beautiful item,” she says, “you get to hold it for a year, and then next year it’s up for grabs again.”
The 2016 BBQ, B & B trophy designed by Francesco Palmieri
Biancamano recently took over the reins of the organization from founder Melody Kettle.
The BBQ tasting (and beer and bourbon tastings for the 21 and over set) will take place from 6 to 10 pm, rain or shine, on the Museum’s tented grounds.
General admission tickets are $85 and include both sweet and savory dishes, as well as bourbons and craft beers. For an additional $35, a selection of top-shelf spirits and brews can be sampled as well. Proceeds will benefit culinary scholarships for students at both Montclair High School and Montclair State University.
The scene at last year’s event. Photo: Natalie Chitwood
Montclair’s Wellmont Theater has donated live entertainment by the Rockin 45’s, a popular high-energy band playing both original and cover tunes.
Some terrific restaurants will be in the competition, including Costanera (Peruvian) and Fascino (modern Italian) from Montclair, as well as Andre’s (modern French and New American) in Sparta, Ninety Acres (New American) in Peapack-Gladstone and Pilsener Haus & Biergarten (Austro-Hungarian) in Hoboken.
Among the nearly 30 bourbons available to sample will be some from Jersey Artisan Distilling and Jersey Spirits Distilling Co. Brews will be poured courtesy of North Bergen’s New Jersey Beer Company.
The master of ceremonies and a judge for the evening will be Anne Marie Leamy, better known as Annie from WPLJ’s radio show Todd & Jayde in the Morning. Other judges will include famed restaurateur and Food Network judge Ed Schoenfeld from New York restaurants Red Farm and Decoy; author and beer expert John Holl, who will sign copies of his recent book Dishing Up New Jersey: 150 Recipes from the Garden State; and Veronique Deblois, a Kansas City Barbeque Society certified judge.
“It’s fun. It’s barbecue. It’s bourbon and beer. It’s outside. It’s summer,” says Biancamano. “What more could you ask for?”
montclairfoodandwinefestival.org/bbq-bourbon-biergarten-2016
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