LES Picklefest 2003

Gothamist has always liked its pickles long and hard and juicy and a little sour, so when we heard they were having the Third Annual Lower East Side Pickle Festival on Orchard between Broome and Grand, we were down there faster than...well, you name it: Winona Ryder on a new up-and-coming musician, Tom Sanford on anything Tupac related, five gay men on a poorly dressed straight schlub. Unfortunately, despite our enthusiasm, we arrived at 4pm - the tail end of the event. Some of the stands had closed up, and we missed out on at least two varieties of pickles that we had never heard of before. Still, there was plenty left. Avoiding the long lines outside Guss's, we ate a serving of spicy kimchi, and took free samples from the chinese pickle lady and a few of the organic farmers. By the time we spun back around to the Gus's line, we were unusually full of piss and vinegar. Mostly vinegar. As always, Gus's came through as the winner, with excellent spicy full sour pickles, and a lovely pickled tomato and hot pepper combo that seemed new. Afterwards, we headed down to Il Laboratorio Del Gelato to ice out the acid. Recommended antitode to pickle overdose: Coconut and peach sorbet combo.