I recently was invited to attend an oyster class hosted by W&T Seafood at the Astor Center. I was super excited for several reasons:

1. Raw Oysters = one of my favorite foods ever
2. I’m a huge nerd and I love being in class!
3. Oysters
4. Oysters
5. Did I mention oysters?

Appropriately named “Aw, Shucks: A Hands-On Oyster Primer” (I love puns and giggle at the name of this class every time I think about it), the class was a great introduction to the history of oyster consumption, oyster farming, East vs West coast oysters, wine pairings, and the art of shucking an oyster.  With 6 glasses of wine and a dozen oysters in front of me, I was ready to get started!

Our hosts for the evening were:

(more…)

Happy Tuesday, Noshers!  It’s one of my favorite times of year – New York Taste time!   I have attended this awesome event for two years now, and I am super excited to be covering it again for 2012!

Photo courtesy of New York Taste

Taking place on Monday, November 5th, New York Taste will feature delicious nosh from 40+ top NYC restaurants, such as Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Le Bernardin, Morimoto, Red Rooster Harlem, Telepan and much much more.  Rumor has it Marcus Samuelsson, Morimoto and many others will make personal appearances – another great opportunity for me to stand there awkwardly gawking in awe.   And one of the best things about this event (besides all the amazing food) is that a portion of the proceeds from the evening will be donated to City Harvest to help fight hunger.  Eating for a good cause!

Over 1,000 guests are expected, with general admission tickets priced at $175.  If you are super fancy, VIP tickets can be purchased for $250, and include admission to a special preview hour, access to the VIP lounge, and a VIP gift bag filled with a variety of products, including culinary tools.  (I myself will be at the general event with a press pass ).   Tickets are on sale at here!

SUPER excited!

Check out my picture-heavy recaps of previous New York Taste events:

New York Taste 2010!

New York Taste 2011!

Lobster Roll Perfection from Luke’s Lobster

This past weekend, I was invited by the Cranberry Marketing Committee to attend the Sandwich Showdown at the NYC Wine & Food Festival.  Featuring over 15 different types of sandwiches prepared by New York City’s top chefs, the Showdown was full of yummilicious bites catchy live music, and flowing libations.  Best of all, the winning chef got $5,000 to donate towards his or her favorite charity.  Eating for a cause, what’s not to like about that??

After picking up our voting tokens:

(more…)

Angelo Sosa, Michael Symon and Jonathan Waxman!

Last week, I had the great honor of covering the Autism Speaks 6th Annual Celebrity Chef Gala.  While the majority of events I cover usually all about the food, this event combined both spectacular cuisine with a great cause; I felt absolutely privileged to attend!

The event, hosted by Michael Symon of “The Chew,” and featuring celebrity chefs such as Tom Colicchio, Angelo Sosa, Mike Isabella, Masaharu Morimoto and so many more, it is no wonder that Autism Speaks raised over $1.6 million  with this event alone, funding research and advocacy initiatives for individuals with autism.

The event took place at Cipriani Wall Street, an absolutely gorgeous venue:

(more…)

This past weekend, I went to a magical place called Pig Island.   As if in a dream, I was surrounded by chefs doing what they do best – creating culinary delights that tantalized the palate.  But these weren’t just any creations – they were all centered around one of my favorite meats (besides duck) – PIG.  Pulled pork, pork and beans, sliders, and bacon….oh, the bacon.  There were will be no words that I can write that will adequately describe the droolworthy nature of that day – so I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  Intrigued?  Please, read on…

(more…)

A while back I had the opportunity to attend a grand opening preview of the Chobani flagship store in SoHo.  When I received the invite, I was a bit intrigued – I know that frozen yogurt stores are slowly taking over NYC, but a non-frozen, Greek yogurt store? Hmmm – how would that work? I would soon find out.

Chobani acknowledged that they were breaking the mold with this new store concept, as you can see here:

(more…)

Happy Monday, Noshers!  How did you all spend the weekend? It sure was a scorcher in NYC – phew! Definitely called for a short trip to Long Beach and some lounging!

If you follow me on twitter, you’ll know that I attended a Brother Jimmy’s #QueSummer event last week.  Consisting of a 5-course, BBQ-focused meal, it was saucy, juicy, tender meaty goodness.  Oh, and colorful beverages galore – just take a look at the menu:

(more…)

Last night I had the great pleasure of attending the Dirty Dancing 25th Anniversary Celebration, hosted by Skinny Cow!  I can hardly believe that it’s been 25 years since the moving came out – I still remember watching it as a kid (which, when I look back at it now, was probably highly inappropriate).  I didn’t understand everything 100% but still loved the dancing and had a major crush on Johnny Castle.

They transformed a whole theater into all things Dirty Dancing and Skinny Cow:

(more…)

I know, I’ve been a little MIA lately.  Do you miss me?

Last week I was invited to sample the new and improved menu at Rosa Mexicano.   I’d been to Rosa Mexicano a few times before – they have awesome guacamole that they make tableside!  I could eat a whole bowl of that stuff. Their entrees were quite hearty – while delicious, you definitely were committing to the entree you chose.  I was happy to see that their new menu focuses more on tapas-style small plates – my favorite way to eat!

This particular event took place at Rosa Mexicano‘s Union Square location:

(more…)

Last week I attended a delicious chocolate event, hosted by none other than Green & Black’s!  After the awesome event Green & Black’s put together last year, I knew I was in for a scrumptious treat.  This year was a small, intimate affair – about 10 bloggers, tops.  In addition to samples of the 10+ luscious chocolate varieties (first photo), we were treated to a cheese, fruit and prosciutto collection (mmmmmm):

(more…)