Get ready for a weekend filled with unlimited wine and sweets in Long Island City.
The Wine and Sweets Fest returns to LIC Flea and Food for a second year. This year’s festival takes place the weekend of July 7-8 at the waterfront market located at 5-25 46th Ave. Guests will get the opportunity to taste unlimited samples of wine curated by a New York City wine professional as well as taste a unique array of sweets from the over 20 local sweet vendors that are slated to be at the event.
Niko Triantafillou is this year’s tastemaker for the event, a role which involves choosing the businesses and vendors who will get to showcase their food to attendees. He was also one of about 15 tastemakers for The World’s Fare back in April.
The writer, critic, and photographer has been writing about the world of pastry since 2006. That year, he started his website and food blog called DessertBuzz, which later led to him contributing to publications like Saveur, Wine4Food, Serious Eats NY and StarChefs.
The native New Yorker was born in the Chelsea section of Manhattan and became interested in food early on. Both his maternal and paternal grandfathers owned food establishments when he was growing up.
Triantafillou said he is currently in the process of reaching out to the businesses who might be in attendance and shared that being the event’s tastemaker is “harder than it sounds.” He said that the process involves choosing vendors who are the best fit based on their location and experience, while ensuring that there is not more than one vendor per category.
Though the food writer said that the list of vendors has not been confirmed, he promises that there will be a wide variety of wine and sweets to suit all tastes.
Triantafillou added that this event is a great opportunity for attendees to try sweets they have not yet tried, and also an opportunity for the small businesses that he chooses to showcase their offerings.
The two-day event is on July 7 and 8 from noon to 6 p.m. Tickets for the event come at two price points. General admission tickets are $29 plus fees and includes two hours of unlimited wine tasting and a souvenir tasting glass. Patrons can also purchase early admission tickets, which go for $39 plus fees and is good for two and a half hours of wine tasting and a souvenir tasting glass.
Click here to purchase tickets.
