I had the honor to be an invited guest to the 25th anniversary of the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-Cap) last week. C-CAP, is a national non-profit that works with public schools to prepare undeserved high school students for college and career opportunities in the restaurant and hospitality industry.  For the record, the Pinkyfingerup crew love the kids and hope they keep feeding us till we’re  old and grey. The founder and chairman of C-CAP, Richard Grausman, has a  career spanning over forty years as a teacher and writer. This year’s honorees included businessman Dick Parsons and restaurateur Alexander Smalls.

Now for the food. The event style is a walk-around tasting. There was forty-three restaurants participating in this years tasting . A good portion of chefs involved were C-Cap alumni. Out of the forty-three participating restaurants, I managed to sample forty-one. Some of my personal favorites came from, Marc Forgione, Sea Grill and Juni. Enjoy the pics and if you see something you like go there and eat it.

– Pinkyfingerup

Red Rooster/Chicken Tack Tack

Chadwicks/ White Water Mussels with Salami Crumbs

Union Square Cafe/ Lemon Mascarpone Cheesecake, Fennel seed sable Blood Oranges, Kumquat Confit

Sea Grill/ Can build your own Chirashi Sushi

Dos Caminos, Plantain Empanadas

Maya/ Tlayuda Adobo shrimp, crispy tortilla, spicy bean puree,chopped lettuce,pico de gallo, cojija cheese and crema

Sarabeth/Banana Cream Trifle

Batard/Coffee and Milk Kardinal

Porter House/Prime rib au jus

Talde/Pretzel Pork & Chive dumplings with Tahini Mustard

Almond/ Moroccan style lamb meatballs with salsa verde and ricotta salata

Clement/ Saffron chirashi with fluke

SD26/Soft quail egg filled ravioli with truffled butter

Nobu 57/Nobu Umami Wings

Lexington Brass/ Beet Cured Salmon Ceviche, Pickle Mango Puree, Black Sushi Rice Chip

AltaMarea Group Hazelnut Paris Best

Wayfarer/Cured Salmon cucumber jalapeño apple vinaigrette.

Daniel/Pheasant Terrine

Mailino/Cured beef tongue, parmigiano,mustard and argula

Felidia/Tuna Semi Carpaccio

Loi Estiatorio/Salmon Tatare with chives , shallots, lemon and horseradish with yogurt dill sauce in phyllo cup

Maysville/Charcoal Grilled Sweet Potato

Blue Hills/Coppa with farm eggs and squash

Mintons/ Sweet potato creme brûlée, sweet tea molasses pickled raisins candied pecans

Telepan/ House made kielbasa with sauerkraut and apple compote

Vinegar Hill House/Braised pork, sunflower hummus,apple&fennel chutney , sourdough naan, curried sunflower bark and herbs

Catch/ Hit Me Cake

Dirty French/ Chicken and Crepes

The Cecil/ Curry crusted cod, kimchi rice porridge gaunciale , fish sauce caramel

Le Cirque/ Blue Crab Simplisse

Betony/ Beets , Horseradish and goats milk

Barbuto/ Farro salad with fennel,olive meyer lemon and almond

Marc Forgione/ Meyer Lemon Cheesecake

Juni/ Charred squash,smoked trout maple

Asiate/Truffled Yukon Gold Potato

La Marina/Crispy Arepa Braised beef short rib, lime scented sour cream, creamy avocado, cilantro

Benoit/ Warm egg custard, green asparagus, sea urchin

Michaels/ Duck Confit Tacos

Extra Virgin/Escabeche

Shun Lee Palace/ Peking Duck