In the Eater Lounge at the Dream Hotel yesterday, chef Daniel Boulud stopped by to drop off a copy of his new book Daniel Boulud Cocktails & Amuse-Bouches, For Her & For Him and to reveal that he's planning yet another restaurant in Canada after his new Montreal spot opens. He said he'll never go back to Vancouver and it's a second tier city, so smart money's on Toronto. He also took part in our Blind Bodega Taste Test, and like the master chef that he is, took the challenge incredibly seriously, taking his time to sniff and taste each item while he tried to dechiper the ingredients in each item (mostly high fructose corn syrup). Here's how it broke down:
PORK RINDS:
"It’s like pork, something I would eat during a game. Chicharon?"
TWINKIES:
"It’s something sweet, I can tell. It’s sticky. Has it been cut or it comes like this? I don’t think its Spanish. I think its American. It has a cup cakey kind of feel. Very nice but cheap. It's not Hawaiian vanilla, not Hawaiian I mean vanilla from Bora Bora. It’s some very factory like cake. It’s not a Madeline. It’s too sticky. Who knows where the recipe is from."
COOL RANCH DORITO
"That’s a spicy tortilla. That’s junk food too!"
CORN NUTS
"Its not beans or corn? It’s a corn kernel?never had that."
COMBOS (JALAPENO AND CHEDDAR FLAVOR)
"That’s a jalapeño. No?that’s a good snack! I like that. Very jalapeño. Its one of those corn jalapeño junky stuff. Good stuff."
Good stuff.
· All Coverage of the 2011 New York City Wine and Food Festival [~ENY~]