geekygastronomer

[geekygastronomer]

Hartford Food Truck Festival Review

The water was calm, the air breezy and the food delicious. There wasn’t a better spot in Hartford to host the 2nd annual Riverfront Food Truck Festival than right on the Connecticut River. 

The amount of trucks present was fairly large so that one had more than enough options in deciding at which and what to eat. The 23 truck options covered cuisines from Jamaican to Brazilian to Thai to classic American eats. 

I attended on Friday July 8th, at around 4pm. Having never been to the waterfront in Hartford I did a walk through the both levels, called the “Upper Plaza” and “Lower Plaza” to get a feel on the size and scope of the festival. The upper level was above the street and the lower was at the level of the river. Both plazas had about 10 trucks, but the upper level was where the live entertainment was. 

The festival days and hours were expansive, with the 3 day festival open from as early as 11am, to 8pm. 

Always trying to eat as many new things as I can, I went straight for the Brazilian food when I had finished my scope out of the place. I’ve never had any Brazilian food and was eager to experience some. 

Brazilian Gula Grill was the truck, and yummy was the name of the game. My dish of choice was called Feijoada. I couldn’t identify much bacon, but the other meats were pretty visible and helped make the beans incredibly flavorful. The rice was simple white rice. The veggies, while not plentiful, were cooked nicely. The salsa was very fresh. It all tasted best when a little bit of all 4 things were mixed together.

I washed it down with some water and then went up a level to lay under a tree on the grass and take in the entertainment. The music wasn’t my thing, but it was still nice to sit in the shade and relax.  

I wish I had way more money and way more room in my stomach, because there were a lot more things I would loved to have eaten, but didn’t. 

Bear’s BBQ, a BBQ joint I absolutely love, had a food truck there. The Jamaican food truck Caribbean Food Concepts smelled amazing and thoughts of Curry Goat danced through my head. Baskin Robbins was a contender for my dessert, but I went with the tried and true Chocolate Fudge Brownie from Ben & Jerry’s instead. 

I spent about 2 and a half hours there, and $20. The weather cooperated nicely and there was a lot of people, but it didn’t feel cramped at all. Overall, the atmosphere was very laid back and positive. 

Final Verdict: The Hartford Food Truck Festival is a yearly event that is worth going to, located at The Riverfront Plaza. The festival pulls together an excellent group of trucks, for a family friendly, casual and fun time. I hope to attend next year. 

[geekygastronomer]

Many mini reviews coming soon!

This month in my area, there are two food truck festivals, and I’ve noticed some new food carts I wasn’t aware of before so my July mission is to eat at as many as I can. 

I will be doing a review/discussion of each of the two food truck festivals, and then some brief reviews of individual food trucks I had on thier own. The brief ones will be short and to the point, stay to a 1-2 picture max, and will begin the last week of July. 

All in all, I should have 5-10 food trucks reviewed by the end of this month! Yay! 

I will return in a few weeks. 

-yezenia 

[geekygastronomer]

Orange is the New Black Season 4 Review

It has been almost one month to the day that OITNB S4 came out, but it wasn’t until a few days ago that I had coherent thoughts to say about it. I had a review drawn up for this a week after the premiere, but it just wasn’t right. I have finally collected my mind.

Plenty of people had thoughts to say about the shocking death at the end of this season, taking to social media to grieve the loss of the beloved character Poussey. They were very upset at the show and the writers, understandably so, as her character seemed almost universally loved. She was sweet, complex, and kind. Poussey was easy to relate to even for those who aren’t black or queer or female. Her eyes were soft, her smile bright. She felt like a friend any one of us could have had. In the aftermath of the shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile last week, the events of the end of Season 4 echoed in my mind. The deaths of Poussey Washington and these two men had several parallels, though they occurred very differently.  I got to thinking: in their anger at her death, so many people seemed to miss the point. The writers of the show didn’t kill her off just for the sake of a dramatic twist. I think they killed her because they were trying to send a message about blackness and the black body in America-a message that many people missed. 

What OITNB did is bring the darker, more deadly end of treatment of blacks into the spotlight. And instead of just being mad that this character was killed, audiences should have been mad about the real life people Poussey represented.

So many things about how her death was handled were reminiscent of of so many real life murders of black people; the fact is that this happens all the damn time. Only sometimes does it make it to the news.

To be black in America, is to do no right. Our President is black and his family is black and they have never had a scandal, never dishonored our country through careless actions and they represent the model American family in nearly every way. Yet they are constantly criticized, from Michelle being called manly, to the morals of Obama's daughters being questioned, to Obama himself being blamed for every little thing that goes wrong here in this country, they can do no right-and that’s the lesser end of the demonization of the black body in this country.

Anti-blackness comes in a whole bunch of other shades and flavors: from being scrutinized far more than white counterparts for the same actions to housing discrimination, to microagressions that come as well intentioned “compliments” to racial profiling and to murder, it is a wonder that blacks haven’t been rioting every damn day of the past century. 

The murder of Poussey tackled the hard to discuss subject of black murders executed by white bodies of power. Her killer did not intend to her kill her, and we see that he is devastated, broken irreparably. But ironically, though he is the one that killed her, it is Litchfield who has her blood on their hands.

Yes, he crushed her airways and ended her life. But what sentenced her to death was a broken justice system, one that incarcerates blacks at a higher rate than whites for equal crimes, one that has become increasingly privatized leading to people of all colors in prison being just numbers and money figures, not actual human beings. 

The way her death was handled really put the blood on the prisons hands, and eerily reminded us of other, real life, deaths. 

The leaving of her body out for hours and hours: a nod to Mike Brown whose body was left out in the summer heat for 4 hours after being shot by a police officer.

The attempt to paint her as a thug: reminiscent of Tamir Rice, a 12 year old child authorities and everyday citizens alike called a “thug” when he was shot by police officers playing with a toy gun in a park.

The attempt to make her appear as if she succumbed to health issues and not murder: that was Eric Garner, who was put in an illegal chokehold by police and died.

The defense of the officer who killed her can be related to just about every well known case of black murder by law enforcement in recent years.

I could go on and on. 

The way her death was handled was so real, too real, that it hurt immensely. But I love the way the writers went all in and opted to spare no feelings- this was as raw as it gets. For this I commend them. 

Now, as for the other aspects of the season, for the sake of not making this review the length of  a novel, I will speak only briefly:

I loved the use of Judy King to demonstrate that even in prison, among inmates, privilege of the wealthy and class never stop being factors. 

The discussion between Bailey and the other C.O about his time at war was outright alarming and a nice touch. I think we glorify all veterans as heros when that may not be the case.

The choice to show flashbacks to when Bailey was young doing dumb things that would have gotten a black guy arrested or put in prison  really showed white privilege. 

Watching soso grow from an impulsive liar to a genuine person was so good.

Piper maintained her top spot on my list of least interesting characters. 

The way Lolly’s mental disorders were handled, or rather, not handled, was also super real and hard to watch. Physical health issues are barely handled by private prisons appropriately (note the no pad issue) and mental illness is disregarded even more. 

All in all this was an amazing season. There were many things I did not cover, but I touched upon the things that came to mind. 

Final Verdict: Season 4 of Orange is the new Black handled a lot of social issues with no pussyfooting around. They nailed things right on the head and blew me away. Great season. 

-yezenia

[geekygastronomer]

Taco Cart Review!

If one had to make a list of holy grail, universally loved foods, tacos would be in the top 10. Up there with the cheesy goodness that is pizza, and the meaty awesomeness that is burgers, this Mexican delight has been tantalizing taste buds for ages. 

Places like Taco Bell and other Americanized mexican-ish food eateries may have you imagining a fried hard shelled food filled with meat, cheese and lettuce when you think of a taco.

That, my friends, is not a true taco. While it is close, true tacos do not have a hard shell. Rather, they have a soft corn tortilla outer, and come in a lot more varieties than the standard ground beef kind people often make.

In my area, the dominant Latino population is Puerto Rican, and authentic Mexican food is hard to come by. 

So when I noticed a small taco food truck wedged in between a nearby Save-a-lot and an abandoned auto shop, I had to go. 

And damn, was it worth the trip. 

I didn’t catch his name, but the man who runs this taco truck is the bomb. He’s really friendly; chatting with the men who ordered before me in the line, and poking his head out to ask how I liked my tacos while I was eating.

There is one well worn lawn chair with the bottom nearly broken and a solid looking wooden stool in front of the truck under a tree to sit and eat at. I sat in the lawn chair, while the men who ordered before me ate with their families in their cars.

It’s not a 5 star dining set up, but when I went (May 19th) it wasn’t very hot. Sitting under the tree people watching while eating was quite nice. 

Now, the tacos. 

The veggies were very fresh, the selection was pretty expansive, and when he asks if you want them spicy and you say yes, you actually get it.

It gets pretty tiring ordering things that say “spicy” and aren’t spicy at all. But  the salsa verde he put on the tacos was the real deal. My nose got runny actually, and I was glad he had given me napkins. 

I ordered one each of the pollo and chorizo (not pictured) tacos and both were equally great.

The flavors were plentiful, but not overwhelming. The sauce was a nice kick, the radishes a satisfying crunch, the tortillas warm while the veggies were cool.

Now they are pretty small, but those small tortillas come over packed. 1-3 depending on how hungry you are would hit the spot nicely.

And they were $2!!

Yes, there is a taco bell across the parking lot. Yes, you can get cheap tacos there too. 

But these are way better.

Final Verdict: I highly recommend these tacos. They are fresh, authentic and delicious. The service is superb. It was well worth the visit.

While it doesn’t have an official address, this taco truck is to the left of the Save-a-lot in Liberty Heights, located at 655 Liberty Street, Springfield, MA 01104.

-yezenia

Comic Credit: Nedroid

[geekygastronomer]

So… I’ve been putting off my first review for quite some time.

My desire to make this blog “perfect” has been clashing with my severe instinctual procrastination, so it’s been weeks since I snapped up this URL and made this blog. It’s been hard trying to decide what format I want to write reviews in and decide if I want to include old reviews or review things I’ve already experienced, or just stick to new stuff.

I have decided…

YOLO.

I’m just gonna review what I want, when I want. If the mood strikes to review my favorite Korean place that I’ve been to a million times over a newer place I’ve never been, so be it.

I refuse to worry anymore about this being perfect. I want immerse myself fully in this. I mean, I’m doing this for myself and no one else, so who cares what anyone else thinks. (Also, I have 0 followers, so this really is for myself.)

First review I’m putting up this week. I need to

-yezenia

[geekygastronomer]

Welcome to The Geeky Gastronomer!

Hi!

I am a recent college grad constantly hunting for my next delicious meal. I love “unusual” dishes, finding great meals at great prices, and trying new foods.

When I’m not eating awesome food, I like to binge watch TV shows on Netflix, take night time strolls or read.

A gastronomer is a “connoisseur of good food and drink, a gourmet.” And a geek is someone who is “an enthusiast or person obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit.”

That’s how I decided on the title for this blog; a fangirl who’s an amateur foodie?…Thus, The Geeky Gastronomer was born.

I couldn’t narrow down my favorite food to just one thing if I tried, much like naming a single favorite book of mine would be a struggle. But if you care to join me, I’ll share with you the many things I love: stick around for food, book, TV and movie reviews!

I look forward to growing this blog.

-yezenia