NYC Tastes

The StarChefs Congress closed out this year with a festive celebration entitled Bad Hombres y Mujeres.  Which was a really incredible array of some bad ass chefs cooking some of my favorite food in the world- tacos!  Luis Acre Mota & Rigo Cervantes from LES spot La Contenta were grilling up some delicious octopus tacos alongside a gorgeous and refreshing hibiscus cocktail. Top Chefs contender Katsuji Tanabe from Mexikosher on the Upper East Side was doling out some creamy Corn Esquites layered with cheese and paprika...   ..while Chef Jake Rojas of Tallulah's Taqueria in Providence, Rhode Island cooked up my favorite dish of the day Tacos de Lengua con salsa fesca (Beef Tongue Tacos). The meat in this taco was incredible.  So rich and tender; held together by a perfect corn tortilla and a douse of fresh lime juice with hot sauce.  I honestly haven't had a Beef Tongue dish of any sort in years and this was a fresh reminder...

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...

Day Two of StarChefs kicked off with the amazing Somm Slam, easily one of the best events of the congress where top sommeliers battle it out in a head to head wine and food pairing challenge.  The competition inside the circle was fierce but outside things were heating up as well at Eat@ICC featuring the theme All in The Family.  Chef Jose Mendin of the  Pubbelly Group  cooked up a comforting Mofongo Ramen studded with fried chicken and sofrito with a rich Kikkoman soy-cured egg... ...while local Chef Christopher Rendall of Flinders Lane created a homey coconut curry broth with thai basil, laksa and chunks of Glacier 51 Toothfish.  Italian family comfort was found in Nona's Meatballs from Tony Ferrari and Jonathan Sutton at the Hillside Supper Club ... ...while Chef Kwame Williams of Vital Dining went back to his Jamaican roots with a crispy Cod Cake served with ackee, stewed peppers and cassava dumplings. One of my favorite bites of the day were...

StarChefs kicked off it's 12th Annual Congress Sunday at the Brooklyn Expo Center with a star studded line up of chef's slinging some incredible eats.  My first bite of the day was from local boy Chef Jeff McInnis of  Root & Bone in the East Village with a decadent Pork Belly Biscuit drizzled with Nespresso Whiskey Maple Syrup. The theme for the Congress this year was "Cook Your Culture" encouraging chefs to cook using the flavors and techniques that define them as individuals.  This could be seen in every facet of the conference from the giant Roasted Skull Island Prawns with Calabrian chiles... ...to the toothsome udon noodles and fried garlic in the Pork Belly Ramen from Chef Jeffrey Hansell of  Ox lot 9  in New Orleans.  These Chefs were all cooking straight from the heart. American Food Carts was the theme for Sunday's Eat@ICC and what's more American than the hot dog. Chef Greg Laketek brought the Chicago heat w...