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.

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AlwaysPartying: The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment

Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — November 16, 2009

Top, Denise Smith’s Chocolate Chip Cookie. Bottom left judging panel. Right, The Bell House.

Coming off The Brooklyn Cheese Experiment (also hosted by Nick Suarez and Theo Peck) we had high expectations for The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment (site), their next event at The Bell House.

The event was fun (judges’ and audience awards follow), but several contestants tried to make things a little too interesting. Many savory dishes weren’t chocolate enough, and in some it wasn’t even perceptible. The strongest savory representative was Lei Takahashi’s “Pig in Drag,” which featured a flavorful spice mix, a sauce that was like a smoky chocolate jam, and meat almost as good as some of what we tasted at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party. The other two best savory dishes were Jill Strominger’s Ole! Mole, and BH Squared’s Savory Chocolate Tamales.

The most successful desserts were simple, take the chocolate chip cookie. It had delicious raw cookie dough taste and a cross-section revealed impressive brick-like layering of chips. And while it wasn’t part of the competition, the other notable interpretation of chocolate was Young’s Double Chocolate Stout.

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AlwaysPartying: Brooklyn Cheese Experiment

Arthur Bovino — September 14, 2009

Pete Taylor, Josh Knowlton & Billy Denniston of Propeller Pale Ale, unanimous homebrew winners.

On Sunday at the Bell House (view site) in Park Slope, Brooklyn, amateur cooks and homebrewers battled to see whose cheese-based dishes and beers would take top prize at the Brooklyn Cheese Experiment. The well-attended and much-photographed event was sponsored by Murray’s Cheese Shop, the Vermont Cheese Society and Council and Sixpoint Craft Ales and presented by thefoodexperiments.com hosts, Theo Peck and Nick Suarez. It featured 17 cooks and 8 teams of homebrewers who were competing for cash prizes and gift certificates to Brooklyn Brew Shop, Brooklyn Homebrew and Whisk. A portion of the ticket sales were being donated for ovarian cancer research.

A judging panel included: Bon Appétit’s restaurant editor, Andrew Knowlton; Taylor Cocalis, the director of Education at Murray’s; the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company’s Adeline Druart; Chanterelle’s fromager, Adrian Murciathe; and the brewers of Sixpoint Craft Ales. They awarded top three categories for best food and beer. Audience members also voted on their top three favorites. Alyssa Lees’ cheese puff was given special distinction and awarded her two tickets to a show at the Bell House.

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