AlwaysPartying: Brooklyn Taco Experiment

Arthur Bovino — February 01, 2010

Clockwise from top: Mike McGowan’s Shredded Beef Rib, John Schnapp’s “Serious Business,” and Andrey Ayrapetov’s Carnitas.

Brooklyn Experiment founders, Nick Suarez and Theo Peck, were at it again this weekend, hosting a group of amateur chefs who competed in The Brooklyn Taco Experiment at The Bell House.

Tortilleria Chinanttla provided tortillas for the cooks, but some teams forewent them altogether, choosing instead to use flour tortillas, and the case of Lisa Koo, to make their own. For teams that used the sponsored tortillas, a not-insignificant hurdle was how they were prepared. Several entries seemed to have been served straight out of the plastic bag. Warming the tortillas made a difference, be they softened by steam, heated in a pan, or in some cases, submerged in the stewed juices of their topping.

The judges (Andrew Knowlton, Cesar Fuentes, and Dave Vendley of Calexico among them) gave top honors to Andrey Ayrapetov’s Carnitas. But the event’s attendants deemed that John Schnapp’s “Serious Business Taco” was worthy of the two tickets to Mexico (courtesy, AeroMexico). Our favorite was Mike McGowan’s meticulously-layered, Shredded Beef Rib Tacos. He served them with avocado mousse and Calabrian hot peppers.