Taste of the Nation New York '06

I went to Taste of the Nation last night with every intention of being a good little food blogger and grabbing shots of the dishes NY's big chefs make when their food needs to be convenient to eat as you walk through a crowded room. I thought it might even be fun to snap pics of our local guys who have achieved celebrity, like Tom Colicchio. But instead I walked in, grabbed a bourbon peach cocktail from the Employees Only boys and a short rib tortellini with Parmesan foam from Shea at Cru, and just got swept up in the fun of the event.

 

Telling you what was best would be hard. The food was kind of like an I-Pod on shuffle: you know that everything in the place is something you want to be there, and at some point would be perfect, but in a certain mood you just find yourself hitting the advance button. So instead I will just offer some awards.

 

Single piece of food that did the most to establish a new restaurant's presence with authority: the steam ship round by Craftsteak

 

Best piece of foie gras ever eaten with my fingers: the strawberry rhubarb terrine by Alain Ducasse

 

Best slider: Sturgeon slider with caviar by Petrossian

 

Best pink thing: the beet and gorgonzola dolce ravioli in poppy seeds and Tuscan butter by

Abboccato

 

Other best pink thing: the blush drink by Eben Freeman

 

Best preparation of a garnish: Employees Only's Dusan spanking the mint for their bourbon and peach drink

 

Best pocket chocolate: Sweet Riot 65% cocoa covered cacao nibs

 

Silliest thing in the gift Bag: the OXO potato masher (I mean if you support hunger by indulging in fine finger food can't we assume you either own a ricer or don't mash in the first place?)

 

Best "this is what we do" plate: a tie between.…

The poached Halibut with spring pea, morel and rhubarb from Gramercy Tavern

The mussels, rye berries, and ramps from Savoy

 

Best item in the silent auction: the 9 ½ inch golden statuette of a rooster

 

Best "put that on if you like it hot" condiment: the sauce for the tacos at Dos Caminos

 

Best example of the difference between the front of the house and the back: Kevin from Gramercy Tavern and Eben Freeman the molecular mixologist formerly of WD-50 still hospitably making cocktails more than an hour after the event had wound down.

 

Great cause, great food, lively fun crowd. The only thing I would do differently is bring a dessert-eater. There were many offerings and they looked awesome, but I am never going to try one over something like shrimp with manchego rice, chorizo oil, and basil oil from Ureña.