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As a kid, I was always fascinated
by the World’s Fair.
It all started when I first saw
the glittering stainless steel
Unisphere out the car window
on the ride back to Long Island
from my grandmother’s house
in Glendale. When I asked my
mother about it, she’d fondly
recall taking my brothers to
the 1964–65 World’s Fair.
Many years later, I would
move to Queens and wholeheartedly
embrace its diverse
cuisines and culture and come
to love the Unisphere — a
sculpture originally commissioned
as a tribute to the Space
Age — as a symbol of the diversity
of the World’s Borough.
So when Joshua Schneps,
CEO and co-publisher at Schneps
Media and founder of LIC
Flea & Food, approached me a
few years ago to tell me of his
plans to pay tribute to the largest
event ever to take place in
the history of New York City
with a culinary and cultural
festival with 100 vendors representing
100 cultures, I jumped
on board immediately.
The second annual World’s
Fare, which will be held on
May 18 and 19 at Citi Field, features
many of my personal favorites
from all over the world,
including the Arepa Lady,
the crown jewel of Colombian
street food in New York City;
Indonesian desserts from
Moon Man; as well as Italian
arrosticini, succulent lamb
skewers from D’Abruzzo,
which won first place in the
savory division at last year’s
Fare.
Newcomers this year include
Chef Troy’s Table representing
Jamaica with their
nutritious and delicious I-tal
Rastafarian vegetarian cuisine,
Balkan Bites flying the
flag of Kosovo with flaky savory
burek and sweet baklava,
Cafe Escencia representing
Spain with scrumptious sourdough
churros wheel, and a
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thoroughly modern take on ancient
Eastern Mediterranean
frozen confection from the Republic
of Booza.
There will also be a dessert
classic that many attendees of
the iconic 1964 World’s Fair
may remember: Belgian waffles
as prepared by street food
sensation Wafels & Dinges.
In addition to Schneps, this
year’s culinary committee features
a trio of female culinary
powerhouses: Gael Greene,
Chef Alex Raij, and Chef
Anita-Lo.
These days, the Detroitborn
Greene is best known
as the Insatiable Critic and
co-founder of Citymeals-on-
Wheels, but as restaurant
critic of New York Magazine
from 1968 to 2002, she changed
the way Americans think
about food. One could trace
the evolution of New York restaurants
on a timeline that
would reflect her passions and
taste over 30 years
from Le Pavillon,
which has
its roots in the
1964–65 World’s
Fair, to nouvelle
cuisine to couturier
pizzas, pastas
and hot fudge
sundaes, to more
healthful eating.
Chef Anita Lo,
author of “SOLO: A Modern
Cookbook for a Party of
One,” has appeared on “Top
Chef Masters,” “Iron Chef
America,” and “Chopped.”
In 2015, she became the first
female guest chef to cook at
the White House.
Chef Alex Raij began her
lengthy love affair with traditional
Spanish cooking at
Meigas, an ambitious Spanish
restaurant in Tribeca,
after completing her formal
culinary education at
the Culinary Institute of
America. She now owns
and operates four restaurants:
Txikito, Chelsea’s acclaimed
Basque restaurant;
El Quinto Pino, named the
Absolute Best Tapas by New
York Magazine; La Vara,
exploring Jewish and Moorish
inf luence in southern
Spain; and her latest, Saint
Julivert, a petit fisherie inspired
by ports of call near
and far.
I am truly
amazed that the
World’s Fare
has managed
to assemble a
lineup of cuisines
that almost
rivals the
diversity of the
World’s Borough.
In the coming weeks
19
I’ll be profiling some of my
favorite vendors. Check
back next week to learn how
the Sainted Arepa Lady got
her start.
This is the first edition
of a weekly column written
by Joe DiStefano, a Queensbased
food writer, culinary
tour guide, and author of
the bestselling guidebook
“111 Places in Queens That
You Must Not Miss.”
CITI FIELD
MAY 18 & 19, 2019
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100+ Global CuIsines
International
Beer Garden
Music, Dance,
Art & More
24 TIMESLEDGER, APR. 5-11, 2019 BT QNS.COM
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