655069 Sat Sep 26 06:36:39 -0700 2009 3 19 Outer Boroughs 0 5059655 Have tickets tonight and am curious whether it's worth going. Sat Sep 26 06:36:39 -0700 2009 10198 eeee 1 5059710 We arrived about 6:45 and found a line down the block. We got in the door around 7:30, where you can buy tickets for 3 drinks-champagne, wine, cocktail, for $30 (you can buy single drinks inside, don't know the cost)-then you enter the courtyard and find...more lines. Long, confusing lines (Is this the end? Do you know what you are on line for?) Had a nice pork rib from Ze Kitchen Galerie, but it was one-one rib. Sirloin from Bigarrade was nice, but it was two cubes. The best was from our own Diner-a great fried corn with scallop butter. Picked up a couple of plates of bo ssam from Momofuku after the crowds died down. Never saw Le Comptoir-I guess they were there somewhere. By the time we got to WD50 they were cleaned out. The cheese was not great-chunks of cheese on plates with napkins. The end of the night, the ice cream line was long, with one person serving it out-so we bailed. The Moscow Mule cocktail was terrific from...Dutch Kills. Is it worth going? If your goal is eating lots of great food, probably not. But the summer courtyard installation is great (though there is grass, and if it rains tonight, it will be mud), the crowds nice (and if I were not middle-aged and married, I would have appreciated all the young ladies) and the vibe fairly good. If you think of it as a night out at a party, with some food, you'll have a fine time. My advice-get there early to get in the front of the line-they check off each person on a list, and they let in maybe 10 people at a time-if you are at the end of the line, you won't get in until 8 and you may miss out on some of the food. And wear sensible shoes. And seek out the L'Ami Jean booth-it's a great restaurant. And remember-it's for charity. Sat Sep 26 07:24:28 -0700 2009 5059655 17642 David W 2 5060922 I concur with David. Overall, the logistics seems a little disorganized and I didn't think the event was a good value for the money. Too much hype, not enough substance. I was near the front of the 7pm entry line, but it wasn't until 7:30 that I entered. They'd mentioned that they wouldn't gouge us with the drinks prices, but I begged to differ at $12/drink. I tried to use a drink ticket for a Chateauneuf du Pape, but was informed that it could only be used for the Cote du Rhone. It was something they could have clarified at the ticket sales counter. I agree that the Moscow Mule was great. Most of the food lines looked long but moved relatively quickly. There was enough eye candy to distract from the length of the wait. Unfortunately, most of the food was just not worth it. The ssam from Momofuku (lettuce, pulled pork and pureed kimchi) was lifeless. The cheese was horrible and served too cold, though the Baltazar whole wheat bread was good. I enjoyed the perfectly-cooked cubes of steak with ponzu-like sauce (forgot the restaurant) and the deep fried corn-on-the-cob (Diner). The pork rib with barbecue sauce was decent, but it was odd that a restaurant from Paris was serving it (and that line spiraled into itself). What was with WD-50's offering of underseasoned chicken neck with a tiny dab of yuzu jam and a herb they incorrectly called cilantro? Not what I expected from them. Another French place served a solid but boring pork soup with a fancy name. The General Green bourbon vanilla ice cream was mediocre but the salted hazelnut was tasty. So in the end, I paid $60 for mostly lackluster food in small portions with notable waits, 2 mediocre drinks and 1 that was pretty good (but $2 cheaper if purchased at Dutch Kills itself). Not a good value considering the great food and free drinks that one gets at events like Village Voice's Choice Eats or today's Vendy Awards, for comparable or actually less money. And you don't have the b.s. p.r. of democratizing high-end food while, in reality, offering early entrance tickets and sectioned-off exclusive areas. And they actually tried to waste Michelle Obama's time by inviting her to this event based on some half-assed premises? Lame. Somehow, the French did not get it right this time. I'd like to hear the experience of those who attended the Saturday event. Sat Sep 26 19:10:03 -0700 2009 5059710 13402 Joe MacBu 3 5060953 well, pretty much the same. highlights were a mini black label burger from minetta tavern. 3 pieces of cheese and bread had no lines. they were a little strong and were difficult to just munch on. would be better if i got wine probably to match it, but look at me: I'm too cheap. DB Bistro moderne had a couscous wtih a chorizo, chicken and lamb i think. it was okay. lines weren't long for that and zero at the end. general greene offered barbacoa tacos. had some heat to it and not bad. the lines were long at the start but were zero at the end. i got 3. there was an extremely tender steak with stuff put on top of it from le chateaubriand in Paris. they were very meticulous about the presentation. it was good. there was ice cream but the line was too long for me. overall I couldn't care less about the multimedia art show. Does anyone? I liked the music selection and it was refreshing to be outside like that. wasn't worth the 30 dollars to me. i wouldn't pay much for such small samples and big lines. seems like advertisements and should be free. VV Choice eats sucks, please no one get tickets for that. Sat Sep 26 19:32:30 -0700 2009 5060922 168211 Jeffsayyes