2017 East Coast Gathering (ECG) - Sunday May 21 in Alexandria, VA

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WildBoar

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The 2017 ECG is officially set for Sunday, May 21 in Alexandria, VA. I will be hosting again this year.

For those of you who have not attended one in the past, forum members and their SOs (and some kids) typically begin arriving around noon and trickle in and out through the afternoon and into the evening. Many bring knives to show, and there is usually some stuff around to cut up. There will be some tables set out for the knives.

Food and drinks are a group effort. We'll supply a little bit, and attendees also contribute. We'll have plates, plastic utensils, cups, etc. The ovens and stove are available for whoever may need them, as well as a charcoal Weber or two, and a gas grill.

This is a low-stress event meant to be more of a chance to meet forum members and catch up with old friends then anything else. There is no obligation to bring knives or to contribute to the food/ drinks.

Last year we had over 40 people, including some down from NY, NJ and PA, and some from the south and deep South. And it was a good mix of restaurant pros, home cooks, a knifemaker and even a couple people who like knives but don't cook :biggrin:

There will also be a dinner on Saturday night. Last year we went to the Green Pig Bistro, where we were able to fawn over the display case full of ChucktheButcher's knife most prized knives, and visit with Charlie's parents. This year we can return to GPB, or go to one of the restaurants in DC presided over by KKF chefs.

Please chime in on this thread if you think you may attend. As the event nears I will send out an email with more specific information, including the address. My mailbox here on KKF is pretty full, so I need to switch over to email for conversations.
 
I will do my best to be there with the Mrs. Just how far are you from D.C.?
 
Just a few miles south off 395. It's a straight shot from here to 14th Street bridge, and can be done in 7-8 minutes if not during traffic hours. From NJ/ NY though I would take Beltway (495) across Wilson Bridge, take the 2nd exit and it's about 1-/2 miles from there.
 
Can't wait for the pics and peoples comments, thoughts and experience
 
I've sent out some emails to past attendees, but I do not have email address for many. I cleared some space in my Inbox, so if you are interested in attending please PM me with your email address and I will send you some info.
 
Shameless BUMP.

Less then one month out!

I hope to make dinner reservations for Saturday evening in the next 2 weeks, so I will be trying to get a headcount.

Thanks.
 
Very sad that I will have to miss this year's gathering of great people and great knives. I'm sure you'll all have a great time! Thanks to WB for hosting again, as well as everyone else's contributions.

I think chances are very good for my attendance in 2018!
 
I am being a PITA and bumping this again. Only 19 days out, so it is getting near time to send out emails with more complete info, as well as start compiling a list of what food, etc. people may be bring so we can figure out what else to provide.

And I need to make dinner reservations for May 20 by this weekend, so please let me know if you want to attend dinner the night before the ECG. I am leaning towards scheduling it earlier (like 6 pm) rather then later, but I welcome any feedback.
 
MAY 9 UPDATE

Thanks to ChefCosta, we have a dinner reservation on May 20 at 5:30 pm at Zaytinya. I will be sending confirmation emails to those who had indicated they wanted to attend the Saturday night dinner. There should be 14 of us.

And Don Nguyen is sending 2 or 3 knives for ECG attendees to play with. There will be a gyuto or two, plus a scimitar prototype.

Bill13 is going to age another steak (just 2 weeks this time, but still much better then fresh from the store), and I may grill up some jerk chicken.
 
Some thoughts based on a conversation with MuchoBucho last week:

1. Last year I think the amount of knives people brought was fairly low compared to the number of attendees. That is likely due to people feeling that some of their knives may be too 'pedestrian', or that other forum members have already seen them at previous picnics. While I fully understand, it would be good to consider that there will be at least a handful of brand new people attending, and even the most pedestrian of j-knives will be useful for them to see, as they don't know much about these types of knives in general.

2. It might be fun to have some attendees engage in sharpening of cutting/ chopping contests. For sharpening though, you have to bring stones as we will not have a big supply like we did last year (thanks again for doing that, Jon!). At a minimum, a couple good-natured head-to-head rounds of onion chopping, etc. might liven things up a bit.

I am also looking into donating the cut/ chopped produce, and the untouched produce as well. It's a shame to toss the cut-up stuff, and it will be far more then I can use. Plus there usually is ~30 lbs of onions left, lots of carrots, potatoes, etc., so it would be nice for it to go to a good cause.
 
This is such a cool event, I really wish we had one of those up here.
 
You guys have an East Coast in Canada, eh? :biggrin:

Email just sent to all attendees of the Saturday night dinner at Zaytinya.
 
Sending out emails with location info, etc. tonight to everyone I have info for that has expressed an interest in attending. Shoot me a PM if you want to be added!

Only 5 days left until the ECG :hula:
 
Emails w/ Event Info sent to all who have expressed interest in attending!


If you did not receive an email, and are interested in attending, please send me a PM with your email address and I will send you the info.
 
Hi everyone!!

I've been MIA for a couple of months as I had to disconnect from any and all distractions while work was killing me and my family life. Got off work at 8 tonight which is the earliest in several months;(. I have no idea how you chefs pull this off.
Anyway, I have bought a NY strip primal cut from Coscto a couple of weeks ago which has been aging in the fridge. I plan on portioning it up at Dave's and after a water bath and trip to the freezer throwing on the charcoal grill. I also have a few new knife's to share and think I should bring some Cabernet for the steak.
See everyone Sunday!
 
Thanks, Bill -- looking forward to seeing you at dinner Saturday.

For the heck of it, I'm dumping photos on Instagram at #kitchenknifeforumecg2017 I hope that isn't too cheesy, as I only signed up for IG last month and don't really know what is good to do.
 
Some thoughts based on a conversation with MuchoBucho last week:

1. Last year I think the amount of knives people brought was fairly low compared to the number of attendees. That is likely due to people feeling that some of their knives may be too 'pedestrian', or that other forum members have already seen them at previous picnics. While I fully understand, it would be good to consider that there will be at least a handful of brand new people attending, and even the most pedestrian of j-knives will be useful for them to see, as they don't know much about these types of knives in general.

2. It might be fun to have some attendees engage in sharpening of cutting/ chopping contests. For sharpening though, you have to bring stones as we will not have a big supply like we did last year (thanks again for doing that, Jon!). At a minimum, a couple good-natured head-to-head rounds of onion chopping, etc. might liven things up a bit.

I am also looking into donating the cut/ chopped produce, and the untouched produce as well. It's a shame to toss the cut-up stuff, and it will be far more then I can use. Plus there usually is ~30 lbs of onions left, lots of carrots, potatoes, etc., so it would be nice for it to go to a good cause.

I can donate the leftovers to Arlington Food Assistance Center. https://afac.org/
 
Bill, we can discuss. Logistically, excess food probably needs to be picked up on Monday. I have not set finalized anything with DCCK yet, so I am open to other possibilities.

On a side note, I was talking to an acquaintance this morning whose brother is a sushi chef at the Source. I wanted to extend an invite to him, since Sunday is one of his days off. It turns out the acquaintance has two more brothers and a cousin who are all sushi chefs as well, so hopefully at least a couple of them will be able to come to the ECG.
 
If there is a seat still available for Zaytinya and no one from out of town steps up my daughter (15yo) was pretty upset I did not reserve a place for her so I will claim it - if it stays open. She is a little on the quiet side but enjoys being around adults. She's up for trying any food so I'm good with the chef's choice for her.
 
Bad Daddy. Julia's a great eater too and will hang with the best of them. I certainly hope she joins us for dinner.


If there is a seat still available for Zaytinya and no one from out of town steps up my daughter (15yo) was pretty upset I did not reserve a place for her so I will claim it - if it stays open. She is a little on the quiet side but enjoys being around adults. She's up for trying any food so I'm good with the chef's choice for her.
 
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