The Sun and Wine Food Fest, which celebrated its 20th year, took place Jan. 27-28, 2024, at the 185-acre Mohegan Sun located in Uncasville, Connecticut. It is one of the biggest gaming, entertainment, and dining destinations on the East Coast, drawing guests from New York City, Boston, and surrounding areas. SWFF featured world-renowned chefs, and over a dozen events over four days, which included an NFL conference championship game-viewing party and a tasting of Corvus vodka with three-time Super Bowl champion Ty Law, who owns Corvus, at the Mohegan Sun FanDuel Sportsbook, which features the largest video wall on the East Coast at 140 feet wide, and Brunch with Martha and Friends, hosted by Martha Stewart. Rolling out spoke exclusively with author, chef and owner of Field Trip JJ Johnson at the grand tasting and Law at the viewing party about SWFF.
What have you been doing at SWFF?
JJ Johnson: I’m here at Mohegan Sun for SWFF and there’s no better place to be. I did a demo and I’m cooking Liberian jollof rice out of my cookbook, The Simple Art of Rice: Recipes from Around the World for the Heart of Your Table. There’ll be shrimp, there’ll be brisket, there’ll be chicken, there’ll be spice. And if you don’t know Liberian jollof rice, we call it the kitchen sink of jollof. It’s very similar to jambalaya.
Discuss being named a semifinalist for the James Beard Awards Best Chef New York State.
JJ: I think when you work really hard, getting nominations or getting recognition from the media or awards is really good to keep your morale going. I’m thankful. Big shout out to the Field Trip team. They’re the ones that are going [to the ceremony]. So this year, that long list award is for them and the communites of Harlem, Rockefeller Center, Columbia University, and all the people who support us. So, I’m just honored I’m on that Best Chef list. It’s one of the hardest categories to win for the James Beard Awards because New York State in general cooks some of the best food in the world.
Talk about your experience interacting with people as they tried Corvus vodka at the grand tasting event.
Ty Law: The experience was incredible because you want to be able to get a captive audience like that, and you got some of the bigger players out there in the industry, and that’s the best taste test that you can possibly have. To be surrounded by so many brands and companies that you know, enjoy, and grew up on, just to be in that room to have an opportunity for people to taste my product and see what we’re about, it was lovely and man, I had a great time. The hospitality has been great here at Mohegan Sun and the reception of Corvus vodka from the people has been amazing, especially when I can’t run and hit anybody anymore.
