Taste of the Nation NYC Recap

When Joe and I got married, he asked me to pick a charity to support, and I chose Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to fighting childhood hunger. They host an annual event in NYC (and across America)  called Taste of the Nation, where chefs from the city come together and prepare small plates for a good cause. Supporting Share Our Strength whilst eating delicious food? Yes, please!

Side Note: If you're interested in learning more about the charity: Share Our Strength

This is the second year I've attended this event, and since Joe had training in Boston, Mom stepped in to be my date! We had a great time, running around, stuffing our face, sipping cocktails, and meeting chef celebrities. To the extent I can, I plan to go back to this event every year, it's awesome.

Not quite all of our bites, but a photo trail of our night:

TOTN with my adorable mother.

East coast, beast coast oysters.

Whipped camembert and mushroom toast. 

Some sort of flatbread with guacamole, corn and tomatoes.

Housemade ricotta from County Restaurant. So simple, but so good.

One of our many tacos. Tacos de Barbacoa.

Seafood salad in the cutest little bamboo style plate.

Grasshopper cake. Mom insisted on trying it.

Pork belly confit with lentils.

Brisket slider with spicy vegetable pickles from Hill Country.

Gulf shrimp salad with fire and ice dressing.

Chicken Liang from Jeepney with cassava and soy bean chips.

Hamachi crudo. More please!

Chicken Shawarma.

I can't for the life of me remember what this was. Just that it was smoky and delicious.

Sandwiches from Untamed Sandwiches.

Candied bacon from The Smith. Delicious! Mom said it tasted Chinese...

Bangers and mash. I learned from this event, I don't like bangers and mash.

A ravioli filled with something creamy and delicious and possibly an egg yolk.

Someone's interpretation of a bahn mi. At this point, i was just forcing food into my mouth.

Gnocchi. Mom never had restaurant gnocchi before. Now she knows I make it correctly, she just doesn't like the texture.

Ice cream macarons!

Cheesecake with rhubarb and crumble.

Cracker jack style ice cream. For someone who doesn't really enjoy ice cream, this was quite good.

Somehow we made our way around another floor of food. Peking duck wonton.

Caviar! Mom had a field day with this despite being stuffed.

Potato chip with pork or beef (I can't remember), but I do remember enjoying it.

Spring onion custard. This was amazing. Despite being 150% full, I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Cured salmon. When I asked the chef if he cured it, he replied "Do you think I'd walk in here with someone else's salmon?"

Mussel mousse!

Overall a great night with amazing company and an awesome cause.