San Francisco Chronicle

How to eat like a pro at music festivals

The Chronicle’s experts share tips on the best types of foods to go for

- By Chronicle Staff

Northern California’s festival season is under way, which means eating under the sun and oftentimes on the run from stage to stage to catch your favorite act. To help ensure festivalgo­ers stay fueled up during what can add up to more than six hours on their feet, The Chronicle tapped our festival pros — pop music critic Aidin Vaziri, restaurant critic Soleil Ho, wine critic Esther Mobley, food writer Janelle Bitker and Datebook’s Senior Digital A&E Editor Mariecar Mendoza — for tips. What are the best kinds of foods to buy at music festivals? AV: The first thing to consider is that no matter how prestigiou­s a restaurant may be in the real world, taking what they do out to a festival environmen­t totally changes the game. A lot of first timers are not prepared for the dust, heat, proximity to Porta Pottis and the like.

Then there are the people. Lots of people. Standing in line waiting.

You want to stick with the familiar names with uncomplica­ted menus that include two, three items tops. Minimal fuss. A slice of pizza may not be as exciting as tuna tartare served in a black sesame cone with ginger-soy dressing, but it’s the safe, functional choice — especially in the Bay Area, where it may come from Del Popolo’s oven on wheels. JB: Anything you can eat with one hand as drunk bros threaten to jostle you in every direction. In other words, burritos, sandwiches and pizza. MM: I like to eat festival food that doesn’t require my fingers to physically touch the food. Because let’s be honest, festival hands — even if you wash them under the non-potable water by the Por

ta Potti — aren’t the cleanest. SH: Anything on a stick. Efficiency rules. EM: I second the stick food notion. And our local festivals tend to have excellent handheld foods, from the Sumo Dogs to the Morimoto katsu burger. But I’ll also say that when it comes to some of our cooler-weather festivals — ahem, Outside Lands — there are some great, warming soups that are worth the spoon. I had a really great tamarind noodle soup from Hawker Fare at Outside Lands last year, and I’ve been known to drink a cup of Itani Ramen when the weather in Golden Gate Park takes a turn. Belcampo often serves bowls of bone broth. I’m very pro festival soup. AV: Soup sounds like a safe bet. But you better be pretty agile on your feet, walking over gopher holes and plastic beer cups, otherwise your soup will end up on some random 17year-old’s Vans slip-ons.

What are the worst types of food to order at a festival?

SH: Definitely consider what will stay good for a while in hot weather: so no raw fish, ice cream or chocolate. MM: I ate poke for lunch at Outside Lands once and couldn’t attend for the rest of the evening and part of the next day. It was such a rookie move on my part. EM: Anything that sounds like a gimmick. Such as, I don’t know, a barbecue parfait, fries loaded with too much soggy topping — these festivals are obsessed with the loaded fries — and burgers or sandwiches using unconventi­onal bookends: doughnut cheeseburg­ers, ramen burgers, chicken sandwiches between two waffles, a chicken parm with monkey bread ... I’ve tried it all, and I’m worse off for it. AV: It’s really hard because you want to support awesome, adventurou­s restaurate­urs who are disrupting the usual mystery-meat-on-a-stick fare of music festivals. But unless they really know what they’re doing on the field, anything that you think might make you sick will definitely make you sick.

What is the best festival food you’ve ever had?

EM: I’m always partial to the Works sandwich from the Farmer’s Wife. But to be honest, a part of me still misses the basic, mustard-slathered hot dogs I used to get at concerts in a past life, far, far away from the gastronomi­c temple that is the Bay Area music festival. MM: The Works is definitely my go-to at festivals if the Farmer’s Wife is on the bill.

Little Star Pizza also won me over. I used to be a Spicy Pie girl during my Coachella days, but up here, Little Star is my jam! JB: I’ve adored cheesy sandwiches from Tartine Manufactor­y and the Farmer’s Wife, but my most life-affirming order was hot chocolate from Charles Chocolates toward the end of a cold night at Outside Lands, staving off the bitter cold and giving me one last sugar boost for the long journey home. AV: The Best Damn Cheeseburg­er by 4505 Meats. The good thing about being a local is knowing that even though the line to get one at a music festival is ridiculous­ly long, it’s only half as long as the line at the actual restaurant. SH: Crawfish Monica at Jazz Fest in New Orleans! It’s a dish that somehow only tastes good while you’re stomping around in the mud with thousands of other people.

What is your best advice regarding drinks at an allday festival?

AV: Bay Area festivals have the best drinks in the world. And the worst drinkers. It’s hard to blame them for going overboard, what with all the unoaked Chardonnay and craftbrewe­d IPAs and 12-year-old bourbons. But pacing is the key. Festivals are long. Really long. You need to sink into it slowly, pace yourself and drink lots of water between hitting the bars. It’s hard to fully appreciate Neil Young if you’re curled up in a corner wine drunk. SH: Alcohol does not equal hydration. JB: Agreed! Remember that a future you exists, and that the bathroom situation gets gross real fast. EM: Bring a reusable water bottle and take advantage of those filling stations.

Hopefully the prices of drinks at these festivals will deter you from ordering too many $30 glasses of Napa Cabernet. Otherwise, yes, you’ll be in that corner during Neil Young.

 ?? Kevin N. Hume / The Chronicle 2014 ?? Dneva Waggoner of Sacramento grills Gourmet Poppers links at BottleRock.
Kevin N. Hume / The Chronicle 2014 Dneva Waggoner of Sacramento grills Gourmet Poppers links at BottleRock.

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