Tasting Table Delivers

SOMEHOW I MANAGED back to Midtown on my own two feet after Tasting Table‘s Great Taste Debate at Hill Country last night. Good thing too, as all-you-can-eat events have a way of making me feel like I swallowed a whale. Still, it was a well-done evening with free-flowing tequila, a cupcake tower, whole roasted pig and highlights including Patrón‘s Diablo (recipe below), Hill Country’s pulled pork and PB&J cupcakes, and pork belly courtesy of Shorty’s.32. I also ate my weight in oysters thanks to the speedy shuckers of forthcoming Mermaid Oyster Bar. If the mission was to make food culture (even more) accessible to the latest generation of food enthusiasts, then Tasting Table can rest easy tonight, like I will in my food-induced coma.

PICTURES (from left): Boqueria lamb sliders, Hill Country red velvet and PB&J cupcake bites, Salumeria Rosi charcuterie, Billy’s cupcake, Jacques Torres chocolate, Mermaid Oyster Bar Skookum and Blue Point oysters.

Patrón Diablo: 1.5 oz Patron Reposado | .5 oz cassis | splash of lemon juice | ginger beer | lemon twist

Add ingredients, except ginger beer, to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain onto fresh ice. Top with ginger beer.