Steak au poivre mac & cheese by Queens Comfort
This year’s Choice Eats is (finally) on a Friday and in the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea. As its usual atmosphere, it’s festive, fun and crowded with the DJ blasting music. Over fifty participating restaurants and food and beverage vendors churning out as many food tastings as possible to quench and satiate the hungry crowds.
Here’s the highlights for favorite bites of the evening:
The lechon (Filipino-style roast suckling pig) by Kuma Inn is a crowd pleaser, at least if you love pork. Crispy pork skin with a nice layer of fat and tender pork meat.
The bowl of steak au poivre mac and cheese with short rib with Fontina, cheddar and green peppercorn sauce by Queens Comfort was well thought out comfort food. The creamy, cheesy, and perfectly cooked pasta contrasted with the briny, peppery bites from the green peppercorns made it interesting and not too heavy.
The potato latke with Nova salmon and sour cream by Baz Bagel was very tasty. Crispy potato pancake with a dollop of creamy, tangy sour cream and the sliver of not too salty salmon was done right.
The double decker broccoli taco by No 7 Restaurant changed our mind about broccoli or any vegetarian sandwich. The crispy taco shell meets the soft tortilla shell and the refreshing broccoli filling.
The lechon asado by Calle Dao was more than just the crispy roast pork. This crispy, fried rice style quinoa with ginger and cilantro sauce and the crispy pork tasted like a slightly healthier version of (Chinese) crispy pork fried rice but still delicious.
The craziest but insanely delicious dessert of the night goes to Robicelli’s “Nutelasagna.” That’s right; it’s literally a dessert lasagna. Buttered lasagna pasta layered in creamy, dense cannoli custard, Nutella ganache, toasted homemade marshmallow, and roasted hazelnuts. This dessert is balanced in terms of sweetness but it’s dense and each slice is share able, especially when you have a belly full of (lots of) food.
If you can’t wrap your mind around a dessert lasagna, you can have excellent dough seeds (think mini doughnuts) from Doughnut Plant. Our favorite was the seasonal special offering of guava dough seed. This particular doughnut was awesome from the intensely flavorful guava filling and the doughnut was perfectly chewy and moist. If we weren’t so full, we’ll happily have a dozen.
There was a lot more tasty fare and for sure we probably missed something. Chime in your favorites from Choice Eats on the comments.
To view more photos of this event, please CLICK HERE or view the gallery below:
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