Brooklyn’s Best Support the American Cancer Society
By Francesca Bartolomey 
June 15, 2010 
7 Comments
Part One: The Food
The sights! The sounds! But most important of all – the tastes! The American Cancer Society of Brooklyn put on one heck of an event when it hosted Eat, Drink and Be Hopeful, a food and wine event to raise money to help fight cancer. Held at the beautiful BellTel Lofts, a residential condominium complex in the heart of downtown Brooklyn, the event attracted Brooklyn-based restaurants, beverage distributors, and others as attendees were invited to wander and sample the offerings.
The highlight of the event was the appearance of Alex McCord and Simon van Kempen of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City. As residents of the Cobble Hill neighborhood in Brooklyn, the couple was all too eager to support a fantastic cause close to their home – and close to their hearts.
It was a fantastic night. Over the course of three hours, I visited every table, viewed a cake demonstration, and even interviewed Alex and Simon.
The first food we encountered were tidbits from the Caribbean. Mojito, a restaurant featuring Cuban cuisine, offered Spanish ham croquettes with two kinds of dipping sauces: Chile morita and their signature sauce called simply “Mojito.â€
Fun Mojito fact: all produce and meats served at Mojito are local and they do not use hydrogenated oils in any of their cooking!
Palo Santo definitely won the award for most creative presentation. I mean, there isn’t a whole lot you can do with plain lettuce, but…well, see for yourself:
What was really on display was the dressing – a tangy, lemony affair which topped off the rooftop greens perfectly. Palo Santo is another taste of local Latin American fare in New York: chef/groundskeeper Jacques Gautier sources his ingredients locally when possible and fair trade when not.
Olea Mediterranean Taverna was one of my favorite stops (I love pretty much anything served on top of crostini). They offered crostini topped with Salvatore Brooklyn ricotta and asparagus drizzled with an orange harissa glaze. Now, I have no idea what harissa is (Wikipedia tells me it’s a character in the film Enchanted), but it was the glaze that catapulted the crostini from good to great. It was amazing.
Morton’s The Steakhouse featured a yummy steak sandwich and I had a lovely chat with general manager/maitre d’ Joe Roken about Morton’s many philanthropic endeavors. Look forward to a feature piece on Morton’s alone!
Verde served up an elegant tartare di salmon on an endive. In my humble little life, I haven’t had many an occasion to eat things off of endives. I enjoyed it!
Red Star deserves special mention as it was the only table to command a significant line. One bite into their featured burger and it was clear why. They served their Cowboy Burger slider style with BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese and frizzled onions, but I swear – there was some kind of secret sweet ingredient that I couldn’t get out of them, but that made the burger insanely good. As soon as the tray was set out, people descended on the mini burgers with the zeal of a buzzard on carrion (there’s an appetizing metaphor!) and the burgers were gone in an instant. Then again a line would form – the gentlemen imported from Red Star could not whip up the sliders fast enough.
The item featured by Chavella’s, a Mexican café, was an elaborate appetizer called tlacoyos con Nopales: a thick corn tortilla filled with black beans, topped with cactus salad (cactus salad?), queso fresco, and crema fresca.
Get Fresh Table & Market brought pasture-raised Berkshire pork tamales with quajillo mole wrapped in a corn husk. They’re another local-when-possible venture and their menu changes daily depending on what the farmers have brought on a given day.
Henry’s End Restaurant served up a delicious cool and spicy tuna tartare with cucumber and chili vinaigrette. (They were appropriately stationed next to table of sorbet samples.)
DuMont Burger, contrary to its name, brought its take on gazpacho instead of a burger. I had never quite warmed to the idea of cold tomato soup (warmed, get it?) so this was my first time trying gazpacho. Surprisingly, I didn’t hate it. In fact, I thought it was quite tasty. With cherry tomato relish floating on top, the soup had a surprising sweetness to it.
From left: Strong Place, Piramide, Mazzat, Belleville Bistro & Lounge
Strong Place also brought its take on chilled tomato gazpacho and added warm crab and gruyere toasts – as amazing as it sounds – for dipping.
Piramide, a Mexican bistro in Park Slope, set up a veritable smorgasbord which included their signature guacamole prepared with fresh avocados, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and jalapenos; mixiotes de pollo; seafood paella; and quesadillas de hongos.
Mazzat brought a taste of the Mediterranean to the event with their chicken kabobs skewered alongside bright cherry tomatoes and their Brussels sprouts special. In addition to its restaurant and bar, Mazzat also operates as a hookah lounge.
And last but not least, Belleville Bistro & Lounge served yet another take on gazpacho; this one featured roasted red beets, Humboldt Fog goat cheese, and a balsamic glaze.
This concludes the food portion of the American Cancer Society of Brooklyn’s “Eat, Drink, and Be Hopeful†event. Stay tuned for part two in the series: the drinks and desserts!
Photos by Stephanie Judge for Appetite for Good.
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Love love love Brooklyn! We are set to travel there in 2 weeks and any tips we can get are always helpful.
Wow, what a collection of amazing foods!!! You were lucky to be able to attend this event, and for such a good cause.
Love Palo Santo’s presentation of salad!
Love all the food here. You are lucky to attend this event for a good cause.
Love the post…what a great event!
Never been to Brooklyn but it looks like a great city to explore. The salad presentation was the most unique that I have seen in a while. Nice post!!
Housewives of NY ! woo hoo haha
Did you tell her Housewives NJ > Housewives NY?
Theres going to be a new series Housewives Houston… hope this is just as interesting…