This is going to be a Wafel-day like New York hasn’t seen in over 50 years.
New York, NY (PRWEB) August 20, 2013
Wafels & Dinges, New York's premier maker of authentic Belgian treats, celebrates the official opening of the Wafels & Dinges Café (15 Avenue B at 2nd St.) and the 4th annual Mister and Miss Wafel Pageant on Saturday, August 24th ("National Waffle Day") at the new café.
"This is going to be a Wafel-day like New York hasn’t seen in over 50 years," said Thomas DeGeest, founder of Wafels & Dinges, a pioneer in the gourmet food truck revolution. "Our years of unrelenting waffling are starting to show results, and the quality of the wafels eaten in New York has never been better. And now, with the opening of our Wafels & Dinges Café, New York City finally has gotten the world-class waffling destination it deserves.
The Wafels & Dinges Café menu has expanded beyond the traditional Brussels and Liège wafels that New Yorkers and visitors from across the globe have come to know and love. The café also offers a variety of creative savory & brunch wafels, some spectacularly tasting milk shakes and ice cream sundaes, and a full coffee & espresso bar with custom blends by Brooklyn Roasting Company. The custom ice cream flavors, including “Spekuloos,” “Belgian Madness” (with Hoegaarden beer & honey), and “Cho-claude Van Damme,” continue to be crafted by house-friend/chef Benoit Gerin from Mont Blanc Desserts.
Saturday, August 24th, marks the most important day of the year for Wafels & Dinges: National Waffle Day! Events include:
- 9:00 a.m. -- Noon: Wafel Cart Art. Visitors who bring a picture or a three-dimensional sculpture of a wafel-truck for a free wafel with one topping. (Artwork accepted at the cafe and at Wafels & Dinges trucks and kiosks) – Location: all W&D trucks, carts & café
- Noon -- close: -- Wafel Cart Art. Bring a picture or a three-dimensional sculpture of a wafel-truck to get two free toppings (dinges) on a wafel. (Artwork accepted at the cafe and at Wafels & Dinges trucks and kiosks.) – Location: all W&D trucks, carts & café
- 3:00 -- 4:00 pm: -- Location: Café only (15 Avenue B at 2nd St.) The 4th annual Miss Wafel and Mister Wafel Pageant at the Wafels & Dinges Café, where contestants will be judged on:
1. A Dinges Skills Competition: A trial to professionally apply toppings to wafels.
2. Eat a Wafel Blindfolded: Devour a wafel with help from volunteers from the audience.
3. Miniature Bicycle Building: Contestants build a small bicycle using two clothes hangers in less than 2 minutes.
Miss Wafel and Mister Wafel winners will receive a Belgian Wafel Passport (good for a year of free wafels), and will perform their duties as “Wafel Ambassador” for one year.
National Waffle Day (August 24) marks the anniversary of the first U.S. patent for a waffle iron. The revolutionary iron was credited to Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, NY, for a "device to bake waffles" on Aug. 24, 1869. Swarthout’s waffle iron was used in conjunction with coal stoves, consisted of a griddle and a cover, and required flipping the device to cook both sides of the waffle.
New York City was the birthplace of the “Belgian” waffle at the 1964 World’s Fair, where the treats (known as “Brussels” waffles in their home country) were an instant hit. Wafels & Dinges is the only company in the U.S. to use both authentic Belgian waffle mix/recipes and old-school cast iron waffle makers similar to the one patented by Cornelius Swarthout. Wafels & Dinges has observed “National Waffle Day,” annually since the company's inception.
About Wafels & Dinges
Founded in 2007 by Thomas DeGeest, a native of Belgium who missed eating the tasty snacks of his youth, Wafels & Dinges makes authentic Brussels and Liège waffles. (Dinges means “whatchamecallits” in Flemish). The iconic yellow truck was a pioneer among the “gourmet food carts,” was a winner of the Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay, is a past VENDY Award winner for “Best Street Vendor Dessert” and was a #1 Zagat rated food truck in NYC. For more information, visit wafelsanddinges.com, Twitter@waffletruck, or the Wafels & Dinges page on Facebook.