Summer 2023 brought with it the 3rd Annual Stock Campfire Jamboree at Camp Wandawega. Same as 2019 and 2022, we had John Manion of El Che Steakhouse at the helm of the all-star culinary lineup and the event was sponsored by Moët Hennessy, specifically Terrazas de los Andes.
The open-flame chef lineup was one for the ages, featuring:
Oliver Poilevey of Le Bouchon, Obelix, and Taqueria Chingon
Mindy Segal of Mindy’s Bakery
Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Kasama
Zach Engel of Galit
Michael Ciapciak of Bang Bang Pie and Pretty Cool Ice Cream
Campers arrived Monday afternoon to a welcome cocktail provided by Lily Wang and Joe Briglio of Nine Bar fame as tunes spun by DJ BK on a killer audio setup provided by the team at Pineapple Audio.
A Polaroid of each camper was snapped upon arrival to be added to the 2023 camp directory.
This year, we upped the ante on swag bags to include:
Camp Knapsack
Custom Towels
Waterproof Bucket Hats
Hydroflasks
Terrazas de los Andes wine
Metric Coffee
Shannon and Rachel of Jean & Wesley took over Mess Hall Tent decor to extend the camp aesthetic to the dining tables. A fruitful trip to the local Elkhorn Flea provided the majority of vintage and found items.
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Oliver and his crew took on Night 1 Dinner with a duck-focused menu including rillettes, skewers, thai sausage, and foie gras.
Scott Lucas from Local H played a campfire acoustic set as onlookers passed joints and housed s'mores.
Campers awoke Tuesday morning to the spoils of a Mindy Segal breakfast and much-needed caffeine doses via Metric's Miro.
After breakfast, campers dispersed to take part in the various amenities Wandawega has to offer.
Blake took over the turntables to keep the groove going through the afternoon.
With temperatures in the upper 90s, most field games were punctuated by a dip in the lake.
While campers wandered the grounds, Zach was hard at work cooking a legendary mezze lunch to refuel them.
A new tradition this year was the Rochambeau Tournament in which campers faced their peers in fierce rock, paper, scissors battles.
Maddie from RPM came out on top, and in addition to the honor of having her name engraved on the trophy received libations from Moët Hennessy and a dinner for two at El Che.
The tournament ended at the cooking station just as Genie and Tim were wrapping up their dinner, which also featured the legendary El Che tomahawk steaks cooked by John and Adam.
After dinner, Deer Tick’s John McCauley treated campers to a solo set in the lodge, going from guitar to piano playing originals and covers. His wife Vanessa Carlton even joined in for a couple's duet.
Wednesday morning, Michael Ciapciak took over the cooking station to prepare sweet and savory biscuits for campers before they hit the road.
We're not sure how the hell we could ever top this Jamboree next year, but we're up for the challenge!
