SOWE Brings Smiles to Scarsdale

The scale of the Southern Westchester Food Festival in Scarsdale on Sunday September 21 was nothing short of mindboggling. When I rode into town on my bike on Sunday morning I couldn't decide which way to turn first. The food tent looked even bigger than last year, extending the entire length of Spencer Place and Chase Road. There was a band playing and a variety of activities going on in Chase Park and beyond that was an appealing natural foods tent, a wine tasting village and if that wasn't enough I learned I could even win a television or a car.

Rich and Stacey Baumer and their kids think big and brought the show to end all shows to our often sleepy village. They started out last year with a one-day event in Scarsdale, and this year added a full day in Mamaroneck, a big event on the preceding Friday night at the Infiniti dealership on Central Avenue as well as several other tastings in the weeks leading up to the big weekend.

How a small staff and an army of volunteers could manage all this remains a mystery. The massive tents went up when no one was looking, trucks and cars carrying the booths and food were nowhere to be found and the impressive schedule of events seemed to flow without a hitch.

After watching a few food demonstrations on the large stage we toured the tent trying to decide how to make the best use of our food tickets. At $50 for 10 tickets – a price increase from last year – we wanted to be sure we sampled wisely. We immediately came upon the largest pan of paella we had ever seen, tended by chefs from the Culinary Institute of America. That was a hit and the line remained long until the last clam was consumed. Someone tipped us off to crab crostini from Jean Georges, served at the booth from the Inn at Pound Ridge and it lived up to its reputation. We also liked the guacamole and pork carnitas from Mambo 64 in Tuckahoe and sampled a smoky lobster corn chowder from the newly reopened L'Inizio in Ardsley. What else did we see? Tuna tartare, meatballs, and pizza fired in a wood burning oven brought into town for the occasion. There was far too much to mention – no less eat!

We happened into the Healthy Food tent and found some innovations with new ingredients. There was a Chia drink in a squeezable container, sorbet with no cream, no sugar, no nothing. A woman who was sampling it claimed that you could actually lose weight while eating it. Motto Sparkling Matcha Tea was bright green, light, refreshing and delicious. Scarsdale Chef Jen Rossano was demonstrating healthy home cooking and of course we came upon some kale.

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On from there we wandered into the Wine Village that featured a dazzling array of vintages. Wearing wine glasses around their necks, oenophiles were sipping reds, whites, roses, champagnes and more from domestic and international wineries.

Too full to take another bite, we waited on line to have our photo taken at the Infiniti booth where we were told that we had been entered intro a drawing for a new car. The picture was cute but we're still waiting to hear who won the car. No word from Baumer or Infiniti on that question.

So – was the event good for Scarsdale, profitable for the Baumers and worth a third attempt? We can't say. We did note that some people felt that the ticket price was high and simply walked through the festival without purchasing tickets. Others had no beef about it and felt that the event was a big gift to the community.

Commenting on the second SOWE in Scarsdale, Lewis Arlt, President of the Scarsdale Chamber of Commerce said, "When the Chamber of Commerce first sat down and discussed this event with Rich, Stacey and Casey, we had some sense that it would be big, but we had no idea how big, how successful, how community-centric, how service-supportive, nor how many restaurants, food vendors, sponsors, volunteers, and foodies in general would participate. It is incredibly gratifying to see SOWE blossom into this wonderful village event. More than one long-time visitor said to me, "This is best thing that ever happened to Scarsdale." We are so proud to be associated with the event, and so grateful to village leadership for facilitating it, and to the Baumers and their incredible team for working so hard, and offering this gift with such apparent ease."

At the end of the day we ran into two couples from Greenacres who actually took the train from Hartsdale to Scarsdale to get to the festival without driving. They joked that the conductor actually charged them each $1.50 for the one-way trip. But when we saw them they were so full that they decided to go home the old fashioned way – on their own two feet.