Taste of the Nation Takes Over New York

There was a certain electricity in the air as guests eagerly lined up in the Grand Hyatt New York in Manhattan, wearing their bright orange VIP bracelets, checking their blackberries and phones, patiently awaiting 7pm for the Share Our Strength staffers to let the hungry food lovers into the mega-event of the season.

Five ballrooms were packed for Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation, which raises funds to support No Kid Hungry, a national campaign to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. Eager restaurateurs, wineries, mixologists and their staffs were armed and ready to serve the wild crowds. The VIP section was the first place I entered and was immediately overwhelmed by all the options. Cocktails, wine, meatballs! I settled on a taste of a Savignon Blanc from Palm Bay Heritage wines and eyed the Meatball Shop’s long line, as they were serving up deliciously decadent meatballs. I next came to Danny Meyer’s Maialino which certainly won most adventurous cocktail of the evening. The lemon flavored cocktail was seasoned with guanciale, a delicious Italian meat.

As I meandered my way past station after station of food, I saw pickles wrapped in salami from Rick’s Pick, pork belly with sauerkraut from The Modern and freshly sliced hamachi from Sushi Samba dressed with a yuzu juice. I occasionally paused to pick up a variety of cocktails like the Painkiller or homemade ginger mojitos. As I browsed the endless selections of delectable tastings, ilili Restaurant caught my eye with their Laban Parfait, Pasta Fatte, and Duck Aryes. These were spectacular!

The winners of the night had to be another braised pork belly dish from Asia de Cuba with a sweet, tangy barbecue dressing, the Texas tenderloin with corn pudding from Hill Country that melted right in your mouth and the steamed dumpling from China Grill whose aroma was overwhelmingly mouth watering.

In between bites and sips, I made my way over to the book singing table. After being talked into a three-for-$30 deal, I found myself on a line with a copy of How To Cook Everything, having famed food writer, Mark Bittman, give me his John Hancock. And that wasn’t my only celebrity sighting for the night. When I stopped by Brasserie Les Halles booth (made famous by No Reservations star and one-time head chef Anthony Bourdain) for some pate, I noticed the chef looked familiar. After some informal inquiring, the chef informed me that he appeared on a recent episode of the show, demonstrating to Tony and the rest of food lovers everywhere, how to make the perfect French fry.

The Sweetest Thing

Of course there was a separate area for desserts, but if you looked hard enough in the main ballroom, you were sure to find something sweet. The raspberry panna cotta from Artisinal sticks out in my mind in particular. The beautifully colored panna cotta was light with just enough raspberry to really bring out the flavors of the dessert. In the foyer, was where most attendees were found. Eleven Madison Park had a delicious flour-free chocolate mouse with a crème fraise topping. Gramercy Tavern, not to be out done, was handing out monkey bread, everyone’s favorite version of coffee cake. Guests seemed to swing by for more than one sample of the treat.

Last Call

After I had talked myself into going home for my own good and downing my last glass of wine, I swung by for one last stop to pick up my goodie bag. The bag did not disappoint. Guests went home with a plethora of glossy food magazines like Food and Wine, a Stella Artois beer glass, samples of teas, pasta and pasta sauce. This event was not only a food lover’s dream, but also raised awareness for a good cause.

Photos by Patrick Chang for Appetite for Good.

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