Saveur's Second Annual Summer BBQ in NYC - June 27, 2011

I had the good fortune of getting invited to Saveur's Summer BBQ last week at The Frying Pan in NYC.  The weather was perfect for being boatside on the Hudson enjoying a bounty of grilled meats from some of New York's top toques and refreshing drinks courtesy of Ommegang Brewery and Grey Goose Vodka.

Things started out favorably with glazed pork belly sandwiches from Marc Murphy of Landmarc and Ditch Plains.

The lamb burger with basil mayonnaise from Sean Rembold of Marlow & Sons was a highlight for me.

 No BBQ is complete without some grilled corn. Hill Country did a very nice job with theirs.

While grilled sausages are also a summer BBQ mainstay, Missy Robbins of A Voce upped it a notch with her grilled lamb sausages. These reminded me to add A Voce to my list of restaurants I would like to try.

Geoffrey Zakarian served up a pretty standard plate of saucy ribs from his new restaurant, The National.  While the ribs were low on the excitement spectrum, they were still pretty high on the taste spectrum.

John DeLucie's (The Lion, Waverly Inn)  lamb ribs were a bit too fatty for me, but it may have just been that I was too full by the time I got to them.

Unfortunately, I was much too full before I spotted Marco Canora's smoked lamb ribs.  I am sad that I did not try one of my favorite chefs' dishes, especially one that looked this good.

Marcus Samuelsson and his crew from Red Rooster were there cooking a fabulous blackened catfish with fried caper slaw, a dish I was pleased to have once again after enjoying it only a week ago at his restaurant.  I have been told by some that the photo of Chef Samuellson is equally satisfying as his catfish.

Alex Guarnaschelli served some nicely cooked—but too sweet for me—BBQ shrimp.

Dan Kluger of ABC Kitchen prepared some massive brisket sandwiches topped with potato chips.  Although one of these guys made me too full for much of anything else, it was a lot of a very good thing.

If only food served on boats could always be this good!  Kudos to Saveur for an outstanding event.

Cook.Eat.Drink.Live

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend Cook.Eat.Drink.Live, "a three-day modern food and wine event at The Tunnel & La.Venue (608 West 28th Street), featuring a large sampling of ultra-premium gourmet foods and spirits, plus appearances from some of the city’s premier chefs."


The event was an interesting hodgepodge of small and mass food and wine and spirit producers, featuring stalls for companies as diverse as Qdoba, Manhattan's Xie Xie sandwich shop, Robert Mondavi Winery, and the North Fork's Lenz Winery. Despite the incongruent mix of vendors, with the disappointments outweighing the surprises, there were some gems that made the event, if not worth its $65 admission, at least a nice lunch.

Seasonal Restaurant and Weinbar won my vote for most delicious item at the event for its plate of braised veal cheeks with spaetzle. I tend to lower my expectations when eating food at events like Cook.Eat.Drink.Live, knowing that even the best of chefs will have trouble cooking food for the masses that must be reheated over sternos. Seasonal's rib-sticking dish would have made me happy in any surroundings.

I also enjoyed the Italian delicacies served during Lou DiPalo's (of DiPalo Dairy fame) lecture. While the information that Lou shared on the importance of celebrating the Italian food culture was fairly pedestrian, the plateful of speck, Prosciutto di Parma, Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Pecorino Romano was just as enjoyable as samples that Lou serves at his store.


I must have sampled wines from at least 10 Long Island and upstate wineries at the event. As is expected of New York wine, there was plenty of characterless plonk, but there were also some unique wines that showed that New York can and should be a wine region that can compete with the West Coast regions. Among my favorites were an oaked Chardonnay from the North Fork's Lenz Winery and a few dry Reislings offered by the Finger Lakes' Keuka Lake Vineyards.


Lastly, I could not help myself from sampling two of the desserts on hand at the event. As always, a filled to order cannoli from Ferrara was a delight and the whoopie pies offered by WannaHavaCookie were nearly as delicious to eat as they were pretty to look at.


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