A Gulf Oil Spill Benefit... Catered by Green Table!

Not too long ago, we had an excellent night out at the invitation of Chef K's friend, Brent, who is the award-winning chef of the small but excellent restaurant Green Table in Chelsea Market. His boss, Mary Cleaver, owner of the Cleaver Company and Green Table, was hosting a charity event benefiting the fishermen affected by the BP spill at the downtown event space 632 Hudson.

Brent got us in gratis to keep him company, but as it turned out, he was stuck in the venue's tiny kitchen making hors-d'oeuvres all night (seriously, three people working side by side in a space no bigger than 7' x 6'). So it was quite sad he couldn't join us. On the other hand, we did very much benefit from his sweat and toil -- his hors-doevres were delicious!

If you haven't been to Green Table, I highly recommend it. Brent has a light but sure touch with fresh, seasonal ingredients, and a special talent for handling seafood that comes, perhaps, from growing up in New Orleans (so the Gulf spill is an issue close to his heart). When Chef K and I visited the restaurant with Brent's wife Melissa some time ago, his crab soup three ways (bisque, gumbo and Southeast Asian -- with cilantro) was amazing, as was his crab cake (maybe the best I've ever had), scallops with fava beans and soft-shell crab. Such a treat.

At the benefit, we enjoyed mini crab cakes, fried green tomatoes, pickled okra wrapped in prosciutto and chopped shrimp and vegetables in small, crispy corn cups (see third photo below), among other treats. Mint juleps and beers were handed out in vintage Mason jars, and a live band played old-timey Southern music. There was even a whole shrimp peeling station -- very cool, although a little too much effort for both of us. We sat quietly and enjoyed the scene.

The 2010 Gowanus Studio Space Jell-O Mold Competition

The GSS Jell-O Mold Competition is, it's probably safe the say, the only event of its kind. For a few years now, local art/design types have gathered annually in this studio space in the industrial no-man's-land between Carroll Gardens and Park Slope to pit their molded jello creations against each others'.

Historically many Pratt peeps attend and/or participate, and this year was no exception, so me and a few other folks moseyed down to show our support. Although I didn't agree with some of the winners ("Ascension Aspic" aka Bloody Mary jello in the form of the Virgin Mary -- EWW!) and some of my friends got robbed (like my fellow Umbra winner Michael Liu, who made fantastic and tremendously tasty "Bouncy Ball" jello balls, complete with a vending machine found off Craigslist), much fun was had all around.

Jello shots for sale:

Adorable Alexis with her dual-flavored jello pills (still can't believe they gave runner-up to the guy who had the exact same concept!):

Michael's bouncy balls:

Of the winners, I thought this one was probably the coolest: stiff agar cups with the appearance of cut glass, filled with different types of homemade herbal lemonade:

Dining at A Voce

NYAFF Part 2: After surveying the new Lincoln Center look, I walked up to the Walter Reade box office and picked up my tix for the opening night film, Ip Man 2. It was about 6:45 for what I thought was a 7:30 showing, and I was quite proud of myself for showing up early. Mystifyingly, however, there did not appear to be a line -- contrary to usual. When I casually asked where the line was, the box office guy informed me the showing was for *9:30* not 7:30. Gulp.

Chef K was understandably somewhat miffed that he'd cut short a bike ride to meet me at the theater, but guess what, I'm glad he did, because as a result we decided to go to A Voce in Columbus Circle for dinner before the movie!!

Chef K's friend Zach is a sous at A Voce, and he definitely showed us a good time. Over two glasses of exceedingly delicious champagne (really, too good -- I ended up with a headache during the movie), we first dug into this sampler of appetizers he sent out (l to r: cauliflower with almonds and golden raisins, pickled ramps with pecorino, roasted cipollini and roasted beets with pistachios), plus two fluffy pieces of rosemary ciabatta with some kind of creamy ricotta spread sprinkled with olive oil:

Then the entrees came -- porcini-filled raviolini (absolutely delicious) and scallops with a cauliflower puree (and I forget what that orange stuff was in the picture -- I think a very light citrus sauce -- this was Zach's recommendation, not even on the menu):

Finally, Zach sent out a trio of desserts -- (clockwise from top) two types of ice cream (I think they were hazelnut and a delicate sour cherry), vanilla pannacotta with mashed strawberries and crunchy fennel, and warm vanilla cream-filled sugared Tuscan donuts with Valrhona dark chocolate sauce:

Quite a feast, and not one I'll soon forget. The Central Park views were just as amazing as everyone says, by the way. Thanks, Zach!

Atlantic Art Walk & Lebanese Food Festival 2010

Last weekend, Mom was in town. Luckily, there was a ton happening right in the neighborhood so we didn't have to go far for things to do.

First stop was the annual Brooklyn Heights Lebanese Food Festival. Every year I seem to pass by as they're packing up, and every year I swear that next year I'll try to find out the dates beforehand so I can taste the yummy food and support the local community. Well I finally made it happen, although once again I found out the festival was going on by accident, when I happened to walk by on the way home from the gym on Friday and ordered a combo meal as a kind of preview. Delicious!!

On Saturday, I brought the momster and Chef K back for lunch. (Chef K is a huge fan of Lebanese food, especially after spending a month in Beirut.) Although the live music was kind of loud (DJed by two Lebanese teenagers dressed like the Jersey Shore kids), we enjoyed the chicken shawarma, grape leaves with lamb, green beans in tomato sauce, buttery rice pilaf, tabbouli and fattoush (tomato and cucumber salad garnished with fried pita chips). Nobody even made it to the baklava for dessert. So glad I was finally able to partake in this neighborhood tradition.

Afterward, my mom wanted to check out the Atlantic Art Walk on Atlantic Ave, something she had read about in the paper. Unfortunately, it wasn't the hustling and bustling street fair we were hoping for, but we did get to pop into a few galleries, the highlight being a print studio. There was some really beautiful work out - I wish I remembered the name of this place!

My favorite print was this one on the far wall of the staircase. You can't see it so much here, but there are white outlines of some kind of architectural structure running throughout the red color blocks. Again, wish I remember the name of the artist -- I wrote it down on a scrap of paper but seem to have thrown it away.

Later we stopped into Blue Marble. Mom had a cinnamon ice cream (her fave), and I had a blueberry pomegranate sorbet, which came with this shovel-like spoon (I'll be blogging more about eating utensils sometime soon...). A fun time was had by all!