New Taste of the Upper Westside's "Best of the West"
"Hiiiiiiiii!" The two employees standing behind the Magnolia Bakery table seemed a bit startled by my enthusiasm. As was I. And before they even had the chance to respond, I asked, "Is one of you 'Bobbie Lloyd,' by chance?" The woman with the blonde hair smiled, shook her head, and politely pointed to my right. "That's Bobbie," she said.
New Taste of the UWS: Magnolia Bakery's famous banana pudding
"Hi Bobbie!" I gushed, "I just had to come over and say hello!" I swear, I must have been talking at 1,000 miles/hour. "I'm the girl who eats her cupcake with a spoon!" Oh god - I panicked - what if she didn't remember me? After all, it had been a couple of weeks since our phone interview. And then...a grin. Which gave way to a chuckle. "Of course!" Bobbie exclaimed, "It is so nice to meet you!" Phew! We spent the next 5-minutes chit-chatting about Magnolia's new red-velvet cheesecake, Kate Spade, and the "secret" behind those delectable lemon cupcakes: they delicately inject sweet 'n sour lemon curd in to the center of each 'cake. Genius.
New Taste of the UWS: Magnolia’s “leaning (cupcake) tower of heaven”
Bobbie and her team were busy. And it's not like I was at the New Taste of the UWS's Best of the West event to hang out with Magnolia Bakery for the entire evening although I very well could have.
With what seemed like hundreds of restaurant/bakery/gourmet grocery/beverage/wine stations under one white tent, I had some serious ground to cover - and if I spent as much time at each as I spent at Magnolia, then I wasn't going about this properly. I decided to regroup - gather my thoughts, if you will - over a glass of wine, closer to the event's entrance.
It was there that I decided to "start from the beginning." Instead of bolting to one particular table and making my way from there - in circles, no doubt - I would move from restaurant to restaurant, winery to winery, bakery to bakery, etc. in somewhat of a more orderly fashion. Probably just as the event planners had envisioned.
New Taste of the UWS: guests arrive and receive "wine glass" necklaces, used to sample wines in the event
New Taste of the UWS: Fishtag's tilefish crudo w/ piquillo peppers, almond, muscat grapes, shishito aioli
New Taste of the UWS: Kefi's lamb slider w/ spicy whipped feta sauce
New Taste of the UWS: Graffit's manchego cheese toast in "four bites." This was, by far, the most creative and well-executed tastings of the evening.
New Taste of the UWS: Calle Ocho's ceviche
New Taste of the UWS: the Valrhona Chocolate dessert bar
New Taste of the UWS: Landmarc's shrimp toast
New Taste of the UWS: Alice's Tea Cup's assortment of scones, cupcakes, and peanut-butter fudgies
New Taste of the UWS: Telepan's potato pierogi w/ scallions & chives
New Taste of the UWS: A Voce/Missy Robbins' chilled spring pea soup w/ whipped mascarpone
New Taste of the UWS: Salumeria Rosi
New Taste of the UWS: Euphoria Greek Olive Oil's chocolate dessert
New Taste of the UWS: Rosa Mexicano's famous margarita, chips, salsas, and guacamole
New Taste of the UWS: Jacques Torres' bomboloni (top), chocolate chip cookies & homemade ice cream
New Taste of the UWS: Wine & Roses' tuna tartare
Winners of the evening
Crowd pleaser: Blue Ribbon Sushi, Jacques Torres, Rosa Mexicano
Cutest table display: Magnolia Bakery
Most creative tasting: Graffit
Most delicious: Euphoria Greek Olive Oil's chocolate dessert topped with olive oil and sea salt. Does anyone know where I can get this recipe? Holy crack - I'd give one of my limbs for it!
Losers of the evening
Lincoln Ristorante and Porterhouse NY: I say this only because each restaurant served the exact same "tasting" items at Tom Colicchio's Toast to the Children of Bellevue, not two weeks prior.
Westside 'til I die,
…
Until we eat again,
Lindsay, The Lunch Belle