October 28, 2013 | Short Order

Seventh Annual NY Film Fest Is Boldly Stuffed
Blair Wilson


The AMC on 3rd Ave seems a strange location for a food festival, but it works.

          I feel disoriented as I order an Old Fashioned from the bartender standing behind the nacho counter at the 3rd Ave AMC Theaters. Tonight, the usual aromas of buttered popcorn and sticky soda spills are replaced by smells of fried fish tacos, nutella-filled donuts, steamed won tons, and cheesy arepas. I’ve come for the second night of the seventh "NYC Food Film Festival". Tonight’s shorts celebrate “The Surprise Inside” – foods rolled around, engorged, stuffed, and injected, with meats or sweets.


I can’t wait until that tray of Talde dumplings gets to my end of the row.

          After a hurried round of pre-screening nibbles, my companion and I find seats in the basement theater, but not in time to patronize the pop-up bar I belatedly spot across the room. I catch the last words of the emcee: “Just as you start to wonder ‘What would that taste like?’ each dish will appear in front of you,” the speaker promises. As the lights lower and the first film begins, I understand why there are napkins and trash bags next to each seat.


I’m not as crazy about Veselka’s pumpkin-stuffed perogy, but the short rib variety is addictive. This is my second helping.

          Sure enough, just as my mouth begins to water during a demonstration of Joe Ng’s dim sum technique in “Dumpling Tales,” I see a tray coming down the aisle. It passes to me: I collect a luscious little green tidbit from Red Farm, followed by a fried pork potsticker from Talde.

          It’s fortuitous that each film unleashes a treat floating down the row to distract us, as it is becomes increasingly annoying that most of the shorts are thinly veiled advertisements – the most blatant being a warm and fuzzy piece on Sugar In The Raw, a sponsor of the festival.


This coconut sticky rice was too sweet, with none of that hoped-for crunch from the coconut.

          Only the emphatically named “Perogy!” lacks the distinct smell of corporate sponsorship. Then again, maybe I fell for it because I was noshing on Veselka’s potato perogy with caramelized onions (but sadly, no sour cream).

          Even the nibbles couldn’t save the mood in some cases – I was looking forward to tasting the celebrated “Best Fish Tacos in Enseñada,” but instead what arrived was a soggy, flavorless fish taco from Pampano.


Dough’s nutella-stuff donut makes me weak.

          After the screening, we surge into the lobby hunting for more bites. Especially another perogy from Veselka’s. There’s nothing like eating to make you hungry. Alas, the uninventive empanadas from Nuchas taste floury with undercooked dough, and the coconut-coated sticky rice from Bamboo Bites is so gluey, my companion complains noisily: “I feel like I’m being punished when I eat this.”

          But disgruntles fade in the gooey glory of the nutella-filled donut from Dough. A crispy, light pastry casing, rubbled in sugar, encloses a small lake of warm, dripping hazelnut chocolate. One last nibble of vanilla ice cream with honey-Sriracha sauce from Love of JoJo is barely necessary as we hit the AMC escalator. Crazy. Even as we ascend, I can’t seem to shake a craving for popcorn and candy.

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