The NYC Fringe Festival is a lot like street food. It is cheap and all over the place.
You don't go to a street cart and expect an awesome dining experience, you go only with the expectation that you will get something.
Maybe you will meet a great vendor, maybe there will be an ingredient that sparks your taste buds or maybe you will find something awesome and awe inspiring. This will happen ever 5 years IF you are a dedicated street eater.
At the Fringe I hope for something...maybe there are a few songs in a musical that make my toes tap, or a really talented cast member that has been thrown into a stew of really bad ingredients, but the discerning can find that talent.
Sometimes it is a director who has great vision for a cast that lacks talent, and upon rare occasions it is a fully satisfying experience.
I admit that much of what I will see has to do with time and location. It is very hard to choose based on the blurbs, some great shows will have lousy websites and some lousy shows great websites. You never know until you show up.
Treat the Fringe like your life, show up and see if there isn't something that will enchant.
This dish is my fringe staple. When you are running around in the Village trying to cram in 4 shows in 6 hours you need sustenance. I came up with this dish one day when I was going on a hike and it is so good I have repeated it several times. It is really high fat (Sorry Doc), but you don't become tempted to sneak bite of dried fruit when your attention should be on stage.
This recipe is per person, or per 4 ounces of pasta, so make times 4 if you are doing a pound and feeding your fringe friends.
4 ounces cooked pasta
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 ounces shredded cheese (any kind, Cheddar, Jack, Mozzarella, any shredded cheese or blend)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved
Basil, parsley, whatever fresh herb you have
Salt and Pepper
Put sauce ingredients in a warm bowl, reserves some pasta water.
Toss cooked hot pasta with sauce and add pasta water as needed to get the right thickness, give it several grinds of black pepper and a few dashes of salt. Eat this super rich fatty combo and go fringe for a few hours.
I put 26 shows on my schedule and will do my best to give quick updates on what might be worth your time.
1 comment:
I stumbled upon a short, absurd play called "A History of Cobbling" about a man who meets a twelve-inch high cobbler. I had time to kill between shows on my first day of Fringe-seeing, and was surprised and delighted at how sharp and funny it was. Sometimes it is those small and simple shows that excel, rather than the musicals that try to do too much within Fringe's confines.
I love that you include restaurant recommendations with your reviews!! It adds extra excitement to venturing to some of the more obscure venues.
Post a Comment