In NYC, we can always find some kind of fun event. Here is another one, an annual event called “Pickle Day.” If you are a pickle lover, or just curious about what this event is all about, then get to it next year! And before you go, here is some information about the event, so you know what to expect. It is on Orchard Street, three blocks long. And they are all about pickles, of all sorts. This year, it was held on September 25th, nice sunny day.

Our first stop was Pickle Me Pete, where they were offering Fried Pickle Line ($8). It comes with a choice of sauce: Ranch, Hot Sauce, Honey Mustard, or BBQ. We chose Ranch. They had a long line, but the line moved fast enough. And for these type of events, most of the food items gets a bit overpriced. I felt like this was one of them. $8 for a fried picke on a skewer… But then again, we are also paying for the fun event atmosphere. It was good, juicy pickles but quite oily on the outside from being deep fried.

Then off to the next tent, Quinn was offering free pickle slices, and Coco-Walnut Cookie with recipe of the cookie on the back.  Interesting item at a pickle event, but hey, free cookie, right? And it was pretty good cookie. Good to have somethign other than pickle on a day filled with pickles.

Next up was Fox Point Pickling Company. They were very proud of their pickles, had few ribbons from some pickle events awards. They had several kinds of pickles, including pickled carrots and pickled green beans. I tried their garlic dill and spicy dill. They were very good, juicy with good crunchy texture. The spicy dill one had a really good kick to it.

We wanted more substantial amount of pickles than small samples, so we went over to Rick’s Picks. They of course had samples of their pickles, Classic Sours and Hotties. Their Hotties were really, really spicy! It is for someone who is serious about hot, spicy pickles. They had “Ice Cold Stickle” ($1), a small pickle on a stick.

It was plump, juicy, flavorful, and lots of good crunch with each bite. And for $1, it was a really good deal! And the people from the Rick’s Picks were really nice and friendly.

 

We saw some people with pickles on paper bowl. We quickly found where they came from, Backyard Brine. They were offering Backyard Brine Boat ($5), with up to three flavors of thier pickles.  They had buckets and buckets of pickles of all kinds of flavor, with funny names. I saw Pumpernickle ry-ry, Dill Death Do Us Part, Rowdy Pepper Belly, and so on.

We got the boat, with a Dill Death Do Us Part, which was a garlic dill sliced in half, Everything which is B&B chips inspired by their favorite bagel, and BBQ Betty-Lou’s, which is smokey, sweet, and spicy chips. The thing was, it was in the paper bowl, filled with juicy pickles and pickle juice. So, it quickly became soggy and started to drip. Therefore, we had to eat them fast, before the paper bowl fell apart. They were all tasty, especially the first bite of each was really nice, but by half way through, all pickles started to taste the same…

What we needed was something different from regular pickles. Then, we found this unique item, a dill pickle cupcake! It was by Sweet Buttons Desserts, and they had four kinds of cupcakes; Dill Pickle, Pistachio, Red Velvet, and Maple Bacon. We were totally intrigued, and we wanted something sweet after having lots of pickles.

We got the Dill Pickle Cupcake ($2) and Pistachio Cupcake ($2). They were smaller than regular cupcake, but bigger than mini cupcakes. The Dill one had pickle chips in the middle, which was a surprise. But, the cupcake had lots of creamy frosting, which overpowered the flavor of mini dill and the chips. It was just sweet cupcake with lots of cream. The pistachio one also was lots of cream, not much pistachio flavor. It was still good to have some sweetness after having pickles after pickles.

There are others who got creative with pickles, and made something unusual. We saw a sign for Pickle Martini and Pickle Pizza Pie. We did not try them, but I am not sure if they tasted good… The Pickle Martini was made with pickle juice, I don’t know if I would be brave enough to try that.

There are more than food and drinks offered here. There are pickle designed T-shirts, stickers, pins, Christomas Pickle ornament, and few other items. I really liked this T-shirt design. Cute and clever.

After we got few more samples of pickles from other places, we needed to have something substantial. We found a lovely sign that said Lobster Mac n Cheese, so of course we got in the line. The Lobster Mac n Cheese ($12) is made with truffles, smoked gouda, bechamel, pecorino, parm, and sumac. It looked really great, creamy and cheesy, and it was, but the only thing was that it was more like mac and cheese with a “hint” of lobster. Didn’t really taste truffle either. For $12 and what we got, I thought it was overpriced.

Before we left the event, we got to see Mr. Pickle and took picture with him. He was super fun and very nice! I was looking forward to meeting him, even for a second, since he has such strong presence… With green make up and red sneaker shoes!

So, if you are a pickles lover, you know where you need to go in September… To the Pickle Day! Make sure to bring some cash, as some place only accepts cash. You can get lots of samples, and also, you can buy jars of pickles when you find some pickles that you love!

Pickle Day – Orchard Street b/w Delancey & East Houston, New York