It was billed as an evening fusing football with flavors of New York, but the pastrami on rye could have been a monarch’s take on that city signature - a jewel-like gobbet of meat with caraway-scented brown butter - the kegs were filled with wine, and the hot dogs (brace yourself, oh true New Yorkers) were of a variety from Puerto Rico.
That did not stop guests and staff members from devouring every delicious morsel on Wednesday evening at the 50 Yard Lounge, a somewhat inexplicable concept-party space in a tent wedged between two restaurants on 33rd Street and Eighth Avenue. The purpose-built venue was devised by Lonny Sweet, a sports agent turned agent to culinary stars like Marc Forgione, a winner of “Iron Chef.â€
The weeklong event, for which tickets originally cost from $400 for one day to $2,200 for a five-day package, was intended to bring together the worlds of food and sports, in the vein of Mr. Sweet’s unusual career path. Every few hours new foods will be sampled, and different celebrity chefs will make appearances: On Saturday, for example, there will be a demo by the meat maven Pat LaFrieda. He will carve a pig onstage with Matt Light, a former offensive lineman for the New England Patriots.
“Sports and food are starting to become a really cool intersection,†said Mr. Sweet, describing the concept before asking Nocturnalist to shill for the event’s many sponsors by mentioning them in print. Sure: Beautiful women stalked around with seemingly more drink samples than there were customers; tables were festooned with pizza-flavored almonds with signs indicating their manufacturer.
There were rum cocktails from a company bearing the name of an island that is a United States commonwealth and a booth advertising a cruise line with ice sculptures of Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower. They barely melted: The tent had no heat while Nocturnalist visited because, the staff said, the generator was down. All the sponsorship lent the gathering the feeling of a trade show. The interesting concept seemed to still be ironing out some kinks on the first day of its inaugural run. (A return visit the next day showed the heat is now up and running.)
There was a table to play nonmonetary blackjack, sponsored by an Internet gambling site, but no croupier any time Nocturnalist passed by. “He’s getting a beer,†a publicist for the event said.
The food, however, was flawless, even if the New York angle was tenuous. “It’s a chefy version of pastrami on rye†Mr. Forgione said, when Nocturnalist took him to task for trying to pass off his delicious dish as something akin to our childhood Second Avenue Deli staple. “It’s like smoking a joint and saying, ‘What can I get out of pastrami on rye?’†he said. “This is it.â€
Fredrik Berselius, chef of Aska restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, struggled to defend the New Yorkness of his astoundingly tasty dish of sunchokes with elderflower vinegar, chanterelles and oil infused with spruce (from Maine, he admitted). His assistant interjected, “It’s the future of New York food!†The men high-fived.
Boris Lutsenko, 27, who works in finance, stood eating a Puerto Rican hot dog. Coincidentally, he had won tickets to the 50 Yard Lounge in a raffle at an East Village hot dog restaurant. “It’s like the circle of life,†he said.
He was enjoying himself, and the free drinks. “By midnight I’ll be eight or nine drinks in,†he said. “By that point, I’ll probably have the time of my life.â€
