NYC Tastes

Monday night the StarChefs Congress turned into an incredible cocktail party with mixologists from all over the country shaking up fabulous drinks.   I kicked off the night with a bit of bubbly from Jacob Tschetter of  Grand Army  in Cobble Hill.  His Strawberry Champagne Mojito was a beautiful and refreshing start to the evening.  Kevin Denton, former bar director of WD-50 and current mixologist for  Pernod Ricard  created a bright green Emerald City with Del Maguey Vida mezcal, Gitana Fino en rama Sherry, apple juice, honey and  the ever popular matcha.    Easily the most creative drink of the night came from A-K Hada of  Please Don't Tell  in the East Village.  Her Peking Duck cocktail managed to bring the savoriness of this classic Chinese dish from dinner plate to shaker glass. Mixologist Jeremy Oertel from Brooklyn favorite  Donna  went tropical with a creamy pineapp...

My birthday night was comprised of my three favorite things in life- crisp refreshing gueuze, delicious Mexican food and wonderful friends.  It began at the gorgeous Gramercy Tavern bar for bottles of Cantillon Gueuze, a rare treat to find on the beer list, followed by dinner at Enrique Olvera's hopping spot Cosme. Even on a Monday night this place was completely packed with folks throwing back Margaritas and Palomas at the bar and dining on fresh guacamole with thick blue corn tortilla chips. The simple pairing of Burrata with salsa verde and fresh microgreens was perfection; the zesty salsa being some of the finest in the city.   We then moved onto larger dishes like Tlayuda, a spicy Mexican style pizza topped with chorizo, black beans and stracciatella cheese, Enmoladas with ricotta, hoja santa, queso fresco and a crispy tostado topped with strips of tuna, daisy capers, yuzu and avocado. Everything we ate was saucy and spicy; definitions never used to describe me b...

I can still remember opening week of Cosme.  I was at day three of the  Star Chef's Congress  and had just seen the world famous Chef Enrique Olvera speak when I decided to race home and check out his dinner that very evening.  Unfortunately Cosme was booked solid and the entire bar was full by the time I arrived. I took it off the go-to list until things calmed down a little but it's still just as crazy today. Reservations for dinner continue to be impossible but not many people know they just started serving brunch. When I stopped in last Sunday I was able to score a table alone and there were still open seats at the bar. There were so many wonderful sounding things on the menu like Corn Johnny Cakes with pineapple passion fruit and Green Chicken Chilquiles with creme fraiche but it was the Duck Enmoladas that really caught my eye.  The duck was simply shredded into a glorious mound of rich, tender meat then stuffed inside a soft blue torti...

The third and final day of the Congress was my absolute favorite.  I started outside in the sun at the Southern Pride BBQ tent.  Aaron Siegel of  Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ  was smoking some Chicken Wings with Alabama white sauce. Wow this was a perfect BBQ wing...super moist chicken meat, intense smoky rub with just a hint of spice playing off the creamy sauce. The woman to my left at the table claimed it to be a life changing wing...she really wasn't far off at all- it was fantastic.   Inside the EAT@ICC was a full on New York City showcase. Brooklyn showed up strong with great plates like Country Ham Biscuit with fig jam, Grafton cheddar and cheese grits from Evan Hanczor of  Egg . Smoked Bluefish, uni, celeriac, apple and rye from Aaron Lefkove and Andy Curtin of  Littleneck ... ...and Brisket Pibli from Mike Poiarkoff of Vinegar Hill House .  The Oxtail Dumpling with Green Apple Curry and T...