Photos: Jeffrey Gurwin

As we did last year, a couple of the Feed contributors would like to take a moment to reflect on what this whole festival was all about.

Gabriella Gershenson: I’d say the answer is business. (Duh.) Forwarding the brand, whether it’s the Food Network, POM Wonderful, Illy, Coca-Cola, Pat LaFrieda Meats (and to avoid being entirely hypocritical, Time Out New York). Of course, there are always exceptions—i.e., events that didn’t inspire cynicism. We heard great things about, but didn’t get to attend, the Slice NY/Serious Eats Pizza seminars; it looked as though dinners such as Ducasse at the Beard House promised great things; and we were impressed, comparatively, by Tom Colicchio’s thorough confit demonstration, which was so food-focused when others weren’t. Rachael Ray said it best: Her cooking demos are “99% chitchat, 1% food.” That pretty much sums up my take on this year’s festival.

Adam Robb: For two days, the Feed only assigned me events where there was nothing to eat. Starved, then overloaded on sugar at SWEET, I introduced myself to Lee Schrager, and I’m positive neither of us heard a single word the other said. I shouted, “You follow me on Twitter!” He shouted, “You should follow me on Twitter!” Sunday, I apologized to someone for something he didn’t know I said about him in an interview on this site. That was awkward. Other highlights included drinking three free Coca-Colas and meeting a model in the festival’s blogger lounge. Yet my proudest achievement? My handful of posts for the Feed. Six months ago Pete Wells assigned somebody to write a story about me and two days ago someone assigned me to write a post about him. I think that’s a step in the right direction. Ask me again in six months.