A Gluten-filled Gala!

Joe and I attended our first "New York City Gala" last night, the 11th annual Taste of the Lower East Side. A fabulous benefit for the Grand Street Settlement. I don't really know true true definition of "gala", but for the sake of this post, I attended a gala.

Hundreds of people attended TLES

The Grand Street Settlement is a non profit organization that expands opportunities for low-income families  by providing cultural services that support community-building, advocacy, self-determination and an enriched quality of life.Taste of the Lower East Side is an event, held in Soho ironically, where the restaurants from the neighborhood come and showcase their food for the benefit of these programs. Essentially you buy a ticket, you show up, your money goes to a great cause, and you get to eat fabulous food for a few hours while listening to a kick ass DJ. My kind of event.

So many restaurants and chefs gave their time and energy to this cause, it was pretty amazing. My favorite part was getting to meet and chat with famed chef, Wylie Dufresne of WD-50. Such a nice guy, very friendly, and just solidified the feeling I had the entire night, that I was a judge on Top Chef. Wylie created a cauliflower soup with surf clam, smoked raisin, and crispy caper. It was unbelievably outstanding.



Chef Wylie Dufresne of WD-50 chatting up the guests

WD-50's amazing soup

As much as I loved Wylie and his soup, it wasn't our favorite table. Our favorite food of the night goes to Salt on Macdougal St. I have never eaten at Salt before, but after doing my research, I found out it's known for seasonal ingredients and being able to customize your meal. We ate the best bacon wrapped date with a honey drizzle that I have ever had.... and I feel I can say with confidence that I've had my fair share of bacon wrapped dates. This was not your every day date! They also had a sample of soup, with a drizzle of truffle oil. Unfortunately we didn't ask exactly what the soup was, we were clearly too busy getting seconds. It was definitely vegetable in nature, and it was one of the best things I've ever sipped on. 

Bacon wrapped dates and "the soup" from Salt

Overall the night was really fun. I love these types of events that you can only find in NYC. The quality of food was outstanding and the fact that you were benefiting a great cause made it even better. I guess Joey and I didn't win our bid at the silent auction for a trip to the Virgin Islands, since I haven't received a call yet. Ah well, worth a shot! Overall a fabulous evening, thank you Hadley for turning me on to this! Can't wait for next year.

Some of our other favorites....

Classic meatball and polenta, and a chilled shrimp gazpacho from Gemma

A sampling of appetizers from Pulino's; olives, razor clam, egg salad, octopus, spiced orange

Goat Town, need I say more?

An ode to my brand new beautiful nephew

This title doesn't suffice, as I certainly can not write poetry. But Im leavin it anyway, for the sake of getting this post up and running. I have been a huge slacker this last month and a half.... between traveling to Puerto Rico with 2 of my favorite girlfriends and then traveling to Park City, Utah with some of my other favorite girlfriends and coworkers, and then one very exciting family event, it seems I've lost my way with this blog. Must. Get. To. Writing.

The only thing that could possibly motivate me is the new addition to my family... my new nephew Matthew Jr.

At approximately 2am on March 20th, my brother and sister in law welcomed their new son Matthew Jr to this world. We spent the previous 9 months DYING to know if this would be a beautiful girl or a boy... can we buy blue Gap sweaters or pink sequined skirts? Will he wear his Yankee jersey proud, or will everyone think the poor little girl is a cute little boy? Do I get to play dress up with her and paint her nails and cover her in makeup at a much too early age? OR do I get to showcase my talents in baseball and play catch and teach him how to win over the ladies? The suspense was killing all of us.

Well catch it is, and I couldn't be more thrilled. He is the most beautiful thing I've laid eyes on to date... and although I am the proud Aunt, I swear anyone that's seen him would say the same thing. He really is gorgeous! I was so excited to spend that following Monday at The Gap FINALLY able to buy appropriate, colorful blue and green clothes. All the cream and brown really does get old after 9 months. So this kid is already the golden boy of the family (similar to his father and my husband), golden hair and all, and is already about as spoiled and loved as anyone.

It's been amazing to see my sister in law and my only brother turn into loving parents. It's also such an amazing feeling to finally be an Aunt. I didn't know it would be so emotional for me, even as close as my brother and I are. But it's really been overwhelming... in the best way possible. To answer all those questions about me being ready to have my own... no. Not yet anyway. It's all about this little guy right now and all I want to do is spoil him and love him and not even think about anything else. It does have me thinking, if I could love him this much, how am I going to handle the love I will feel for my own? Unimaginable.

So that's all for my first post in a very long time. More to come this weekend, recipes, etc. I promise! but for now, let's just enjoy this face.

Sleepin on Nanna

Proud Auntie