In the midst of serving bourbon-style meatballs to hungry attendees and dancing to music blaring from a collection of speakers, Emma’s Pub and Pizza in Bridgewater owner Ron Emma took a moment to decide what his favorite part of the day was.
“The gluttons,” he joked.
Emma was one of almost 10,000 Phantom Gourmet “Phans” — some dressed in purple T-shirts, beaded necklaces and wigs — who flooded Lansdowne and Ipswich streets Sunday for the fourth annual Phantom Gourmet Food Festival.
The sold-out event featured signature samples from 50 of Phantom’s favorite restaurants. Hungry eaters also stayed for live music, costume contests and football games at the surrounding bars and clubs.
“I think it’s one hell of a party,” said Dave Andelman, founder of The Phantom Gourmet, a local TV show that uses an anonymous critic to rate New England restaurants. “Who wouldn’t think this is fun?”
Local favorites such as Lansdowne Street’s popular Sausage Guy and Sunset Grill and Tap, as well as national chains including Fuddruckers, Edible Arrangements and Dunkin’ Donuts, were among the 50 restaurants who put up their plates for judgment.
“It’s like a cruise ship,” Andelman said. “There is something for everybody.”
Boston University alum Bob Brodsky, owner of Yummies, said his Kittery, Maine shop provided 6,000 candy necklaces for “phans” and is the “favorite candy store of the Phantom Gourmet.”
Yummies, a Phantom Gourmet “Hidden Jewel,” has provided candy for the food festival for the past three years, but this was the first year it actually attended by popular demand, Brodsky said.
Another BU alum serving up treats at the food festival was Jean Delios, a 1993 School of Management graduate who owns Kane’s Donuts in Saugus with her husband, Paul.
Also a “Hidden Jewel,” Kane’s was recently named one of the nation’s top 10 doughnut shops by MSN.com, Delios said.
The shop distributed about 4,000 “coffee roll[s] the size of my husband’s head,” Delios said.
Another BU alum, radio personality Eddie Andelman, father of Dave Andelman as well as Phantom Gourmet host Dan and regular guest Michael, said his favorite part of the festival was “enjoying [his] boys’ success.”
Although both father and son denied they were the actual Phantom, Dave Andelman hinted the secret food critic may have been hidden in the crowd of purple.
Like most “phans” at the event, Hampton, N.H. residents Kevin James and Maria Swallow came to the festival draped in purple.
“It’s the fun,” Swallow said about her colors. “You might as well go for it and have a good time.”
Some “phans” said they prepared during the days leading up to the event.
Phoenix Boulay, of Marshfield, said she ate very little Saturday and nothing Sunday morning so she could properly gorge at the festival.
“I love Boston because people love to eat here, not like California,” she said.