Billed as “La Guinguette (restaurant or drinking place) du Languedoc-Roussillon” at East 74th Street between Fifth and Madison on a June Sunday, this street fair offered a taste of the South of France for those of us too lazy (poor, tired, etc.) to fly there. It was a block party organized by Sud de France with the French Consulate and Accueil New York (hospitality) and made for a nice destination to stroll around in.  Some New Yorkers stretched out on sling chairs

while others nibbled at French foods like brandade (salt cod)

and rousquilles, a kind of ring-shaped, sugar coated bisquit native to the region (could anything like this be bad?)

provided by Chef Laurent Kalkotour of Atrium at Dumbo.

Families sat on benches that went the whole length of the block and relaxed in the sun or shade.

while others had fun doing very silly things.

We All Scream for Ice Cream

The ice cream truck arrived from Brooklyn bearing Van Leeuwen’s artisanal selections, both dairy and vegan, and you might pay a pretty hefty sum for two half scoops of their very rich ice cream, but you could get lavender honey, ginger, and of course, some fine vanilla and dark chocolate.

Following the Miss Piggy diet (if you want a hot fudge sundae, don’t eat it after lunch, eat if for lunch) many of us stood on line for our lunch of chocolate and pistachio ice cream with the best hot fudge I’ve seen since Wil Wright’s (see previous post for heavenly memories) delivered with great delight by the purveyors.

While the music wasn’t French, it did add to the atmosphere.
This wasn’t an earth-shaking event, but it was different and rather nice and quiet for a summer Sunday (and a sundae) in New York.

A list of street fairs of all types and varieties can be found weekly at:

http://socialeyesnyc.com/manhattan/