Kyle Nabilcy
A pho-rrito from Sujeo and biscuits and berries from Bloom Bake Shop.
The fourth annual Yum Yum Fest was held this last Sunday at Breese Stevens Field. It’s a new venue, with new charities to benefit, and some new organizational help for the Madison Area Chef’s Network from Big Top Entertainment, which operates both Breese Stevens Field and the Madison Mallards.
With the new high rises flanking it, Breese Stevens and its vibrant green field turf surface has even more of an urban oasis vibe going for it than it already did when it was held at Central Park. I have to admit that I felt a certain amount of guilt over the impact past Yum Yum Fests had on the grass at Central Park, especially seeing as the event previously benefitted the Madison Parks Foundation.
I don’t know if the Madison Radicals or the 56ers will mind a few sprigs of cilantro or cuitlacoche nubbins under their cleats, but it can’t be any worse than the impact of Breese Stevens’ cheese curds or fish fry events might have on the field. It’s a venue well-suited for this kind of event, with plenty of folks lounging on the ground as well as seated at the long rows of communal tables.
(Before we get to the food, a note to the organizers about those tables: a couple spaces to allow for cut-through would eliminate long walks if, for example, you meet your friends seated dead-center and the only open seat turns out to be on the other side of the table.)
The lineup of participating restaurants didn’t break a lot of new ground, with the notable exception of Milwaukee restaurants Dandan and the Vanguard. Also new for 2017: Bandit, the yet-to-open West Washington train depot taqueria from Gilbert Altschul. Bandit served up a walking taco with pork rinds rather than Fritos at the bottom. It was a lot of food, hot and fresh, but the thing about Fritos is that there’s like zero air in them at all. Very dense. Airy chicharrones, on the other hand, get slippery and soggy fast under the saucy toppings.
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Kyle Nabilcy
The urban pleasures of Breese Stevens Field suit Yum Yum Fest.
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Kyle Nabilcy
A pho-rrito from Sujeo and biscuits and berries from Bloom Bake Shop.
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Kyle Nabilcy
A Pig in a Fur Coat's pig's head torta (left) joined by Sal's pulled pork with piri piri sauce, potatoes, peas and corn kernels.
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Kyle Nabilcy
That's Umami's Japanese street corn (left) and DanDan's rice and egg roll.
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Kyle Nabilcy
The sub for Fritos in Bandit's walking tacos.
Dandan’s duo of pork egg roll (very traditional) and foie gras fried rice (very not) was probably my favorite little paper boat of the whole afternoon. The egg roll was fresh and crisp and didn’t mess around, while the invisibly-integrated foie gras added lip-smacking richness to dark, savory rice.
Lines were long for Tory Miller’s Sujeo pho-rrito, a trendy Frankenstein of Vietnamese pho wrapped up in a burrito. (Sorry, Frankenstein is the scientist, the pho-rrito is Frankenstein’s burrito.) The tortilla used was a touch too big, leaving lots of dry folds at each end, but the fillings were remarkably pho-cused and flavor pho-ward. The potency of the accompanying cup of hot sauce took at least one member of my group by surprise.
Dueling arancini, of a sort, came to our table via Casetta Kitchen and, counterintuitively, Morris Ramen. Casetta’s was actually a supplí, Rome’s answer to the traditionally Sicilian arancini. The fried, egg roll-shaped log of rice and quite a lot of cheese needed a little more of the tomato sauce component, maybe on the side for dipping. The Morris arancini were closer to the Sicilian standard, except for being laced with kimchi and topped with tonkatsu sauce and gochujang. Nothing too complicated there, but all the components reported for duty.
Umami’s Japanese street corn was pretty brilliant. If you think of the usual elote-style corn on the cob but with the toppings of okonomiyaki, you realize how naturally it all fits. If the corn had been either sweeter or gifted of larger kernels, it would have been a perfect food-dork summer dish, both quirky and well-executed.
A mess of pulled pork with piri piri sauce, potatoes, snappy peas and corn kernels gave the Salvatore’s booth a surprising South African vibe. The occasional crisp frizzly bits of pork took this dish to next-level status. A simple, luxurious crispy pig's head torta from A Pig in a Fur Coat would make a fun addition to that restaurant’s menu.
For dessert, Bloom Bake Shop deployed berries, whipped cream and lemon curd atop itty-bitty biscuits that were a touch chewy but really served as a transmission device for berries, whipped cream and lemon curd anyway. The cold brew and vanilla ice cream affogato from Adamah Neighborhood Table balanced sweet and bitter into a refreshing and invigorating finale.
There was no shortage of food options at Yum Yum 2017, as in previous years, but a couple booths did run out very early. Muramoto’s salmon poke and Banzo’s beer-braised lamb were both gone before the halfway point of the festival.
I enjoyed many of Yum Yum2017’s novel elements — Jumbotron displaying each booth’s dish on rotation, hello — as well as the familiar. With all its changes, it’s still an event that works.