Francesca Hong of the Culinary Ladies Collective and chef at Morris Ramen.
Call it a woman-centered Yum Yum Fest, or the 2019 Makeshift Festival that never happened. But the inaugural Femmestival is more than small plates.
It could well be the biggest gathering of female chefs and artisanal food producers ever held in the state. Women artists and DJ Femme Noir will warm up the popular Garver Feed Mill event space on a winter Sunday. And the Feb. 23 event is free (other than paying for the food), notes organizer Francesca Hong of the Culinary Ladies Collective.
The collective, which formed in 2016 to support and raise the profile of women in the food and beverage industry, had been wanting to launch a winter festival especially to highlight the talents of underrepresented vendors, says Hong. When Bethany Jurewicz of Garver approached the collective to provide the food arm of a food and arts fest, everything seemed to fit.
Participants include some well-known names: Kristine Miller of Estrellón, Laila Borokhim of the former Noosh and Joon, and Jamie Hoang, formerly of Sujeo. Elena Terry of Wild Bearies catering and the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance will be there. Mary Kastman of Viroqua’s lauded Driftless Cafe will be partnering with Sitka Salmon for a salmon dish.
Dishes will range from vegan doughnuts to traditional Polish stuffed cabbage rolls, says Hong.
Some will be familiar — Estrellón’s Miller will serve that restaurant’s legendary Basque cake — and some will be dishes most eaters likely will never have heard of before, like fermented coconut and beet rice cakes from Kosa Spa. “It’s a diverse mix,” says Hong, who is excited to work with woman chefs she’s never met and, in some instances, had not heard of before the organizing of Femmestival.
Other food and beverage participants include Molly Maciejewski of Madison Sourdough, Christine Ameigh of Slide, Laurel Burleson of The Ugly Apple, Jenni Mans of Humble, Jaycee Haas of Batch Bakehouse, Lauralyn Rosenberger of the pop-up Elemeno, and Estrella Belen and Leslie Serrano of Papel Picado. Pasture & Plenty, NessAlla Kombucha, Saints Juice Co., Surya Cafe and more woman-owned and operated businesses will also be on hand.
The collective drew from its own members, but with the help of Centro Hispano was able to contact and involve underrepresented producers, says Hong. Femmestival is not charging a vendor fee, thanks to sponsors MGE and Park Bank, funds from the Culinary Ladies Collective and Garver’s donation of the space. Vendor fees are always “a hindrance for [smaller and new producers] being able to get into the bigger festivals,” says Hong. Culinary Ladies members are sharing equipment and their commercial kitchen space with some smaller vendors, as well. Hong hopes this will make Femmestival “a platform to be creative without financial boundaries and people will actually make money at a food and arts festival.” Other proceeds will go back to the nonprofit Culinary Ladies Collective.
The procedure will be familiar to attendees of Yum Yum Fest. Every dish from every vendor is a flat $5, and there’s no money changing hands at booths. Tickets, $5 each, can be purchased in advance through the Femmestival website, femmestival.com — or download the Ticketleap app and vendors will be able to scan your phone, says Hong. Some physical tickets will be available at the door. Femmestival will run from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (food sales end at 5 p.m.). Garver has been addressing parking limitations by posting a “lot full” sign on Fair Oaks Avenue to alleviate gridlock, and Hong says more parking advice will be appearing soon on the Femmestival website.
