James Beard Foundation Awards 2010

Rather than regale you with the wry, sardonic and and semi-cynical prose for which he known, ELV thought he’d just let these snaps of Monday night’s James Beard Foundation Award ceremony and reception speak for themselves….mainly because he can’t think of anything wry, sardonic or cynical to say about the event.

More tasty snaps of his adventures in New York City will be forthcoming, if and when he can squeeze in some posting in between his gallivanting about Vegas Uncork’d for the next four days.

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TOP OF THE WORLD – in Las Vegas Weekly

ImageThe farther you get off the ground, the old saying goes, the worse the food gets, with airplanes being the prime example. As someone who suffered through the revolving-restaurant craze of the late 1970s (and more than a few horrendous airline meals), I can attest to the accuracy of this maxim. And as someone who had dined at Top of the World several times after its opening in April 1996, I always thought it stood out as Exhibit A among earthbound examples.

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Baby Eels at DANIEL

Eels

Also known as piballes, these squirmy little critters come from a river in Maine, where the Browne Trading Company gets them from whomever goes fishing for such things.

Then, they find their way to Daniel (and a select few other multi-starred temples of gastronomy in NYC) where the James Beard  Restaurant of the Year 2010 and uber-chef Daniel Boulud springs them on special customers as a little amuse bouche…a small, lively little something to stimulate and titillate your gueule.

We were surprised to say the least, when they showed up at our table a night before the Beard awards. Having had them once before (at DJT) we remembered the powerful punch of their briny mouth-feel, and the light tomato and caper broth they came in let the taste of  these subtle-y fishy, salty and rich little elvers come through. They’re not for everyone (in more ways than one) but the taste is one of the rarest in the world of gourmet delicacies, and we were honored to have a porti0n bestowed upon us.

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