Unfancy Food Fest Takes Gourmet Grub Off the Pedestal

Last Sunday’s sweltering summer heat didn’t hinder the dozens of venders hawking their fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses at the 3rd annual Unfancy Food Fest, which set up shop in the shade of East River Bar’s courtyard in South Williamsburg. Though intentionally declaring itself “unfancy,” you can forget about twinkies and big macs, fried oreos and street meat. Everything sold at the Unfancy Food Fest is organic, local, honest and—hence the “unfancy”—unpretentious. Its rigidly traditional counterpart, The Fancy Food Show, which breezed through the Javits Center in Manhattan earlier this week, inspired local celebrity butcher Tom Mylan, along with fellow foodie Sasha Davies, to found an alternative three years ago—Brooklyn-style.
“There are no egos here, it’s just a bunch of sweethearts,” said Mylan, who works as the main butcher at Marlow and Daughters in Williamsburg, a grocery that specializes in local and organic meats and produce. “We’ve all spent a lot of time at the Fancy Food Show, and it’s so stuffy, global and industrialized—also there’s no beer involved. We wanted to do something small, artisanal, local—with beer involved.”
In addition to fostering an environment where local micro-businesses that buy and produce locally—many of them doing so in Williamsburg and Greenpoint—the Fest is, above all else, a celebration of keeping the scale of food production small and manageable, as well as building a community of like-minded food enthusiasts with a social conscience. According to Mylan, the advantages of operating within what he has termed “the small food movement,” are immeasurable, and so many Brooklynites are embracing the philosophy and making it their own, which contributes to the tight-knit nature of the North Brooklyn neighborhood foodie scene.
“Another reason for this festival was to get our friends and family, everyone we know and love in one room,” Mylan said. “Everyone here believes in this method of production, of trying to get people as close to the production process as possible—it’s traceable, it’s accountable. The whole point of making food like this is to have a personal relationship to the people who make your food—it turns into a community. Also, because real estate in Brooklyn is relatively cheap, people in this neighborhood can afford to take chances, and people here want to buy local.”
Liz Gutman and Jen King are two Williamsburg-based chefs, fresh out of culinary school, who recently started their own micro candy company, Liddabits Sweets. The pair makes artisanal bon-bons, candies and candy bars out of their studio space in Williamsburg, to sell on the weekends at the Brooklyn Flea market in Ft. Greene. They use local, organic ingredients, and try to incorporate seasonal fruits, yielding such confections as cucumber mojito jellies, beer and pretzel caramels and a coconut, lime and dark chocolate candy bar. Relatively new to the Brooklyn foodie scene, Gutman and King are discovering the valuable network of like-minded food enthusiasts with whom they are beginning to trade tips, support and advice.
“We love the local scene here,” King said. “Everyone takes such pride in what they do. With Liddabits, we wanted to bring up the nostalgia of childhood with our candy, but for adults. And really, it’s about getting back in touch with food and where it comes from. It’s not just political, it’s moral. And people here get so creative!”

While the finished eats themselves were, as King said, nothing short of creative, Ben Flanner is a perfect example of utilizing his creativity at the most basic level of production. Two months ago, Flanner started his own rooftop farm on Eagle Street in Greenpoint, coating his 6,000-square-foot roof with soil and planting a variety of crops.
“We grow everything, we’ve got tomatoes, peas, salad greens, peppers, eggplant, onions, cale, swiss chard, spinach, squash, cucumbers, cabage—it’s easier to ask what we don’t grow!” Flanner said.
Flanner explained that he was primarily motivated to start a rooftop farm in an attempt to get back to the source. Utimately, by growing local produce and, in turn, selling it to local restaurants, Flanner has managed to create something of a closed-loop system—an endeavor that can often prove difficult in the big city.
“I am very influenced by the politics of the new farming movement,” Flanner said. I just like being that much closer to the supply chain. And it’s community-based: You can make a delivery and talk to the chefs about how they are preparing your food, which is great.”
The Unfancy Food Fest may have been unpretentious, but the products offered there were nothing short of fresh, impressive and delicious—a true credit to its founding philosophy of the importance of small operations, quality ingredients and a supportive foodie community.
“I just want people to touch my food!” Mylan said with a smile. “And I want to know the people touching my food!”