By William Ruben Helms
The annual restaurant crawl Taste of Sunnyside returned to the neighborhood for its 14th installment on Sunday, October 13, boasting an expanded look with 64 participating venues and a block party. Created and produced by Sunnyside Shines Business Improvement District (BID), the event aims to showcase the area as a dining destination.
During a warmer than normal October afternoon, at 46th Street and Queens Blvd., near the Sunnyside arch, DJ Abraham was spinning a collection of smash hits across a diverse range of pop, hip-hop, salsa merengue and more at an eardrum shatteringly loud volume. Occasionally, DJ Abraham would welcome attendees to Sunnyside and to Taste of Sunnyside.
Under the 7 train viaduct, a handful of tables were set up in a U-shape. Four were for event registration, The rest were for local sponsors to hand out branded tchotchkes. Small but steady waves of people picked up Taste of Sunnyside badges. If you were of legal drinking age, and wanted to imbibe, you’d have to stop by security to verify your age. But by far, the second most important stop of the afternoon was to grab a Sunnyside map, which featured the location of each participating business and a brief description of the cuisine each served at the business. Or if you were tech-inclined, you scanned the QR code for a digital version of the map.
If you were like my girlfriend and me, you quickly mulled things over and made a quick plan of action. Nepali or Mexican first? Japanese or Korean fusion? Or maybe the Indian Chinese fusion place? When do we get sweets? Do we split up to tackle places that the other didn’t want to try? Decisions, decisions, decisions. The options were dizzying. Every restaurant had a line of curious and adventurous folks excitedly lining up for a menu tasting. Depending on how busy the business was during your visit, you might have a chance to chat with the owner or the head chef, creating a deeply personal, small town touch.
“Everybody’s putting their best culinary foot forward to show what’s unique and distinct and wonderful at their restaurant,” explained Sunnyside Shines BID director Dirk McCall. “The food is amazing. Our restaurants are the best in New York.” He added that the crawl, which typically sells anywhere from 40% to 50% of its 1,200 tickets to neighborhood locals, “is a way to get people to come to Sunnyside.”
According to festival organizers, the 14th edition was “bigger and better than ever.” with new elements that attendees enjoyed throughout the afternoon, including a photo booth, live music headlined by a brass band, and a block party under the iconic Sunnyside arch on 46th St. that was DJ’d and emceed by DJ Abraham. Tickets cost $55. “Restaurants and bars,” exclaimed McCall. “And nice food. That’s a steal!”
The event featured a handful of businesses that just opened this year. Curley’s Bagels, located at 43-04 47th Avenue, opened on July 3. “Anything that we can do to be a part of a neighborhood event like this — we’re all in right away, one hundred percent,” Curley’s Bagel’s proprietor Mark Curley told the Ledger. When asked what his aspirations were for this year’s Taste of Sunnyside, Curley said that “people coming over and having a little taste of some of our bagels and smears hopefully brings them in.”
Masa Madre Artisanal Bakery, located on 47-55 46th Street, opened just a few days before Taste of Sunnyside. The business’s head baker and proprietor José Luis Flores shared that his business was three years in the making. And although it took a while, the neighborhood has been very supportive. That’s not surprising. Their artisanal baked goods, which are made with a sourdough starter, take a lot of work – and have a lot of love put into them. He added that participating in the event was an opportunity to collaborate with the neighborhood, and equally to promote his newly-opened business.
Seoul Bystro, a Korean Fusion restaurant and gastro pub, located at 43-10 Queens Blvd., opened a few months ago. Seoul Bystro’s Alvaro Lopez and Javier Alavardo said that the recently-opened spot is “one of the few, or maybe the only Korean restaurant over here.” Stationed at their tent, which featured attention-grabbing music selections and large portions of food, they joined the chorus of venues in saying that they looked forward to attendees getting to know their restaurant.
Of course, Taste of Sunnyside featured some of the neighborhood’s more established businesses as well. Empire Shop, a sandwich and smoothie spot located at 47-10 39th Place, opened three years ago. When asked about his participation in the event, proprietor Daniel Astudillo said that he enjoyed “the fact that the whole community is together.” Much like the other participating businesses, he hoped the event would bring in more traffic, while giving people the chance to “come and taste what the Sunnyside taste is.”
Tangra Asian Fusion, located at 39-23 Queens Blvd., is a neighborhood mainstay. Head chef Sim Lon explained that the restaurant, which infuses Indian herbs and spices into Chinese food, has been open for nearly 19 years. He bemoaned the fact that folks passing through often don’t realize that their restaurant and the cuisine they specialize in exists, echoing other owners’ enthusiasm for the buzz generated by the event.
Taste of Sunnyside offers one of the best opportunities to explore one of the city’s most interesting and criminally unheralded food destinations at an incredibly affordable price point. With a significant portion of attendees coming from the area and from Queens, it keeps money that would often leave the borough, in the borough. At its core, it’s a great, economically sound way to support diverse, local businesses run by our neighbors.
“Everyone’s been amazing today,” said Mark Curley. “Everyone seems to be having a really great time walking around and experiencing all the food and community of Sunnyside.”
