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
Marc Forgione/ Meyer Lemon Cheesecake
Batard/Coffee and Milk Kardinal
Union Square Cafe/ Lemon Mascarpone Cheesecake, Fennel seed sable Blood Oranges, Kumquat Confit
Juni/ Charred squash,smoked trout maple
Vinegar Hill House/Braised pork, sunflower hummus,apple&fennel chutney , sourdough naan, curried sunflower bark and herbs
Nobu 57/Nobu Umami Wings
Sea Grill/ Can build your own Chirashi Sushi
Blue Hills/Coppa with farm eggs and squash
Chadwicks/ White Water Mussels with Salami Crumbs
Barbuto/ Farro salad with fennel,olive meyer lemon and almond
Shun Lee Palace/ Peking Duck
Dirty French/ Chicken and Crepes
Felidia/Tuna Semi Carpaccio
Benoit/ Warm egg custard, green asparagus, sea urchin
Sarabeth/Banana Cream Trifle
Catch/ Hit Me Cake
Lexington Brass/ Beet Cured Salmon Ceviche, Pickle Mango Puree, Black Sushi Rice Chip
Porter House/Prime rib au jus
La Marina/Crispy Arepa Braised beef short rib, lime scented sour cream, creamy avocado, cilantro
Telepan/ House made kielbasa with sauerkraut and apple compote
Maysville/Charcoal Grilled Sweet Potato
Betony/ Beets , Horseradish and goats milk
AltaMarea Group Hazelnut Paris Best
Loi Estiatorio/Salmon Tatare with chives , shallots, lemon and horseradish with yogurt dill sauce in phyllo cup
Mailino/Cured beef tongue, parmigiano,mustard and argula
Le Cirque/ Blue Crab Simplisse
Mintons/ Sweet potato creme brûlée, sweet tea molasses pickled raisins candied pecans
Extra Virgin/Escabeche
Dos Caminos, Plantain Empanadas
Wayfarer/Cured Salmon cucumber jalapeño apple vinaigrette.
Asiate/Truffled Yukon Gold Potato
Daniel/Pheasant Terrine
The Cecil/ Curry crusted cod, kimchi rice porridge gaunciale , fish sauce caramel
Talde/Pretzel Pork & Chive dumplings with Tahini Mustard
SD26/Soft quail egg filled ravioli with truffled butter
Michaels/ Duck Confit Tacos
Red Rooster/Chicken Tack Tack
Maya/ Tlayuda Adobo shrimp, crispy tortilla, spicy bean puree,chopped lettuce,pico de gallo, cojija cheese and crema
Clement/ Saffron chirashi with fluke
Almond/ Moroccan style lamb meatballs with salsa verde and ricotta salata