NYC Tastes

This was a crazy and amazing year filled with lots of great food, friends and travel.  It began in January with a fantastic trip to San Diego with my parents.  They learned more about beer on that trip than they probably ever cared to know hitting up spots like Alpine, Ballast Point  and Societe Brewing .  Then Mr. T and I spent a few days in Florida  before embarking on an absolutely incredible trip to Copenhagen  and Brussels  with our close friends and certainly the best beer festival of my life the  Copenhagen Beer Celebration .  Add in a few trips to Buffalo,   Vermont  and Nashville  and I would say we've been pretty busy.  But in the end it's always NYC that holds the biggest spot in my heart.  This year the food was better than ever and with new breweries like  Third Rail  and  Other Half  joining the leagues of Peekskill, Kane and Barrier there's never been a better tim...

Thursday in Copenhagen was a big day.  All of my NYC friends had finally arrived, the city was bustling with amazing brewers to kick off the Copenhagen Beer Celebration and we had a fabulous birthday lunch booked at Noma for our friend Steve. Noma is run by René Redzepi, a 36 year old Danish chef who currently has two Michelen stars and has kept Noma ranked as The Best Restaurant in the World four out of the last five years. Rene is all about New Nordic cooking and the tasting menu he unleashed upon us that afternoon was a prime example of foraging at it's finest.  The meal begins with an array of "Snacks"... Red Currant and lavender verbena Nordic Coconut with quince and cabbage soup Moss and Cep- Reindeer Moss seasoned with mushrooms and served with juniper creme fraiche Elm leaves and yeast Surf and Turf Tarts- flowers from the land, seaweed crust from the sea Caramelized Milk and Cod Fish Liver ...