Foodie in training

Because of business-related entertaining I do get to eat in a lot of nice restaurants, but I don’t consider myself a food and wine connoisseur. Since my favorite foods are still the stuff I was raised on (fried chicken and shrimp and Vandy’s BBQ), I doubt I'll be asked to become a food critic anytime soon.

However since so much of the NYC social scene is based around eating and drinking, I am in DOG (Dining Out Group); once a month we try restaurants we’ve never been to. I was also recently invited to participate in the inaugural outing of Gastro Snobs, another group of folks wanting to try higher-end places.

Gastro Snobs went to WD-50 last Sunday, not too far from my apt. Was a really lovely meal. The servers knew their stuff, and the space was very downtown but without any attitude.

Had the pinenut cassoulet with rabbit sausage & smoked octopus to start, and then the duck breast with soy spaetzle, jicama and pickled ramp for main course. We also ordered the 5-course dessert tasting menu, which started with an amuse. There were some interesting tastings like black currant cake with black sesame, shiso and meringue as well as soft chocolate with umeboshi and beet.

After dinner we hit the new Lower East Side rocker bar, Revolver, and stopped by Rue B on the way home for some jazz.