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.
AlwaysPartying: Hapa Kitchen Luau at Brooklyn Yard
Arthur Bovino & The Hungry Goat — August 31, 2009

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Top, $10 Roast Suckling Pig Plate with Kahuna Kohlrabi, Apple & Carrot Slaw and Basil-infused Rice. Bottom left, rain-defying Brooklyn Yarders. Spit-roasted suckling pig from Tamarack Hollow Farm.
It may have rained on Friday evening but it was still a great night for outdoor eating at Brooklyn Yard (view site) on the Gowanus Canal. The event was a luau hosted by Hapa Kitchen (view site), the supper club co-founded by Akiko Moorman and Cathy Erway (author of the food blog, Not Eating Out in New York). The club is named for the Hawaiian word for “mixed-race,” which is generally used to describe anyone of part-Asian descent. “We’re trying to give our what ups to Hawaii,” noted Moorman.
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Pete Freeman and Akiko Moorman preparing suckling pig. Right, a “Hapa Tai.”
They were also trying to use only local, sustainable produce. Drinks included beer from Brooklyn’s Sixpoint Craft Ales, and “Hapa Tai’s,” Hapa Kitchen’s Mai Tai rendition, complete with pink umbrellas. Organic vegetables, like the heirloom cherry tomatoes included in a Pepper Macaroni Salad, were from Garden of Eve Farm. But the luau’s highlights were the two 40lb pasture-raised, suckling pigs and pork butts from Tamarack Hollow Farm, which were cooked on a spit and in La Caja China boxes.























