Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation

[Rosie]

The annual "Taste of the Nation" is being held at the Madison Hotel on Route 124 in Convent Station tonight from 6:00pm to 10:00pm. 30 or so of the areas best restaurants sample their finest cuisine so grab a a few friends and head over there for some really terrific food, wine and an exciting silent auction. Half of the proceeds benefit the Foodbank and I guarantee you'll really love this event. Tickets are $75 and you can buy them at the door. Hope to see you there!

[Rachel Perlow]

I received the following press release today, sounds like a worthy cause we eGulleters could embrace.

Rachel

~~~

Taste of the Nation

NJ’s Premier Food Tasting Event

Benefiting Hunger-Fighting Organizations

click here for more details: Taste of the Nation's website

Morristown, NJ - On Monday, April 26th, 2004, Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation, presented by American Express and Jenn-Air, will feature Over 40 chefs from the best restaurants in New Jersey preparing their signature dishes. Plus, samples from top wine producers, brew masters, pastry chefs, and caterers, while at the same time raising awareness and critical funds in the fight against hunger. The gathering will take place at The Madison Hotel in Morristown, NJ and serve some of the most mouthwatering specialties.

This is a great way to help fight hunger in New Jersey. You get to nibble and sip great food and wine while meeting the chefs and wine makers. Take the challenge and sample them all! And, with over 40 great restaurants and wineries, you'll want to take a break in our auction room (live and silent auction) and bid on some of the great culinary packages and gourmet items.

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation is distinctive because 100% of all ticket proceeds go directly to fight hunger and poverty. The New Jersey recipients for 2004 will be the Community Food Bank of New Jersey and Eva’s Kitchen in Paterson, New Jersey.

Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation is being held on Monday, April 26th, 2004, at The Madison Hotel in Morristown, NJ. General admission tickets are $75 per person. For tickets or more information, call 973-772-4474.

Your participation in the fight against hunger will make a meaningful difference in the lives of people in need.

[Lreda]

While I believe this is a great cause, I don't believe it's been well run as of late. There put a lot of effort into running this charity event but they have a problem because The Madison Hotel runs their regular business leaving us to make due with wherever they decide to put us in the tombs of the hotel. I did Taste of the Nation two years in a row, the 1st, they shoved us in a basement with pizza ovens when we were supposed to have a good run of the kitchen. I made goat cheese ravioli in a pizza oven without pans. Silly!!! The next year I made sure I didn't have to depend on the ovens and made due to with the portable stoves we bring to shows.

The food nevertheless is 1st rate and the wine companies bring wines good enough to make the $75 tariff well worth it but it could be soooooo much better perhaps in a better venue.

[Rosie]

Information on this event is on Table Hopping With Rosie this week. Scroll down.

http://www.njmonthly.com/rosie/rnews.html

There is also information on the New Jersey Wine & Food Classic.

[mschef]

This is one of my favorite food & wine tasting events!!

Great food, top chefs (see link below), decadent desserts (my weakness) spectacular wines, perfect location and all for a wonderful cause (helping to fight hunger in NJ)!!

Kudos to the Taste of the Nation committee members, sponsors, volunteers and the staff of the Madison Hotel for putting together such a spectacular event!

FYI - I found a webpage with an updated list of restaurants that are participating at this years gala event on Monday, April 26th, 2004.

http://www.NJDiningGuide.net/TasteofTheNation

It looks like this year's event is shaping up to be the best one yet!

My stomach can't wait until April 26th!!!!

[mschef]

2 more wonderful restaurants have joined the Taste of the Nation - Food & Wine Tasting Event

Fascino, Montclair

Liberty House Restaurant, Jersey City

more to come...

[Helena Robinson]

We'll be attending the event in Princeton on Monday. Looking forward to it, even if Ken won't be bidding on as many dining certificates as usual.

[mschef]

Here is a complete list of participating restaurants, dessert cafes, etc...

15 Fox Place

Adagio Taverna e Ristorante

Adega Grill

Basilico

Cafe St. Honore

Ciao Bella

Cinque Figlie

Cloverleaf Tavern

Fascino

The Famished Frog

Ganache

Garlic Rose

Godiva

Heart and Soul

Il Mondo Vecchioi

Joe's American Bar and Grill

La Bakerie Café Boutique

La Campagna

Liberty House Restaurant

Lulu's Bistro

Madeleine's Petit Paris

Makeda

Marcello’s at the Ho-Ho-Kus Inn

Papa Razzi

Pazzo Pazzo

Pierre's Bistro

Rattle Snake Ranch Cafe

Rod's Steak & Seafood

Rouzeau Restaurant

Scalini Fedeli

Restaurant Serenade

Side Bar

Stage House Inn

St James Gate

Strip House

Summit Diner

Sweet Sisters

The Restaurant

Tim Schafer's Cuisine

Wazwan @ Santoor

Word of Mouth Catering

more to come

[mschef]

PARTICIPATING LOCAL BEVERAGE PURVEYORS...

Wine Library

Stella Artois

Seattle's Best Coffee

Bacchus School of Wine

Heavyweight Brewing Co.

57th Street Wine Company

only 3 days away...

[Rosie]

I'll be there on Monday night.

[mschef]

FYI - Everyone attending tomorrow evenings gala event would be wise to arrive slightly earlier than the scheduled 6PM start time.

.......I heard it from the grapevine (<---- sorry) that more tickets have been sold this year than any previous Taste of the Nation event held at The Madison Hotel in Morristown, NJ.

I guess having over 40 great restaurants and wineries had a little something to do with that! :)

see you there!!

[Gifted Gourmet]

We have the same thing happening here in Atlanta .. and there is a thread in the Southeast Forum with even more specific details ... including the restaurants participating locally ....

but here is the nationwide schedule of events and the details from each city are readily available on this site:

http://www.tasteofthenation.org/site/PageS...name=findandbuy

[Rosie]

see you there!!

Will you be with a restaurant tomorrow night?

[mschef]

RE: Will you be with a restaurant?

Hi Rosie:

I will not be participating with a restaurant this evening. However, I will be trying to break my "all-time" record (28 restaurants / 2 yrs ago) of sampling every table (40+)!! <---- It will be quite a task, but I'm definitely up to the challenge!!

ps - I am a personal chef (15+ yrs) who loves great food, fine wine and this event!

[Rosie]

Look forward to your report tomorrow! Do you also try all of the wines?

[Helena Robinson]

So, what did we miss last night?

We attended Taste of the Nation in Princeton last Monday. It was a little more challenging than usual to get enough to have a dinner, as offerings were dominated (much more than usual) by pork, shellfish, and dessert. (We don't eat pork or shellfish.)

Standouts for us included:

Beef Burgundy from Sophie's Bistro

A trio of small desserts on a single plate from The Brothers Moon: fresh strawberries, almond raspberry torte, and cheesecake (which Ken, the cheesecake hater, loved, even after being told what it was)

A duck dish from Anton's at the Swan (and I'm not a big fan of duck)

Potato roll and spicy chickpeas from Masala Grill (which promptly sent me off for dessert)

A chicken pate sort of dish from Tre Piani that Ken liked

A chocolate mousse from the Lawrenceville Inn that (along with the tasting from The Brothers Moon) shared honors as the Best Dessert of the Night

Chocolate tempura from The Doral Dorrestal

There was also a vendor (who's name escapes me, will have to ask Ken) offering juices that were delicious. They also had a petition set up for those who wanted to request McCafferty's to carry them.

Finances prevented Ken from bidding as enthusiastically as usual this year, but he did manage to win a pasta set; which will end up as either a shower or wedding gift for his niece; who's getting married this summer.

Hopefully we'll do better next year. But we're curious to see how last night went. (We've attended the one in Madison when I worked in the area, but liked the layout in Princeton better, for the most part.)

[Rosie]

Didn't take notes but Cinque Figue served fabulous scallops and there was a cake made with a mango mousse that Sweet Sisters was serving that was great. Seemed to be alot of steak, crab cakes and scallops. Also enjoyed the steak and creamed spinach by The Strip House.

[mschef]

What a nite!!

.... Rainy days and Mondays.... Didn't stop this event from shining!!

PS: Rosie

New "all-time" record (31 restaurants!!)

[Rosie]

What a nite!!

.... Rainy days and Mondays.... Didn't stop this event from shining!!

PS: Rosie

New "all-time" record (31 restaurants!!)

But what did you like????

[mschef]

many favorites....

Garlic Rose - Filet Mignon with fresh garlic & herbs

Ganache - Rich white chocolate and dark bittersweet chocolate mousse cake, topped with hot fudge, caramel sauce and whipped cream

Marcello’s at the Ho-Ho-Kus Inn - Crabcakes, apple-horseradish remoulade

Wazwan @ Santoor - Tender Pieces of Goat/Lamb Ribs garnished with spices

Too many to mention!!

[Jason Perlow]

Rachel and I attended the Share our Strength Taste of the Nation event at the Madison Hotel this evening. Here's some highlights of the night:

The Conservatory at the Madison Hotel

Executive Chef of the Garlic Rose flaming up some Steak Au Poivre

St. James Gate Steak with Wild Mushrooms, one of the best dishes at the event

Rod's Steakhouse Seared Diver Scallops with Prosciutto, another winner dish, Rachel and I had several servings of this one!

Restaurant Serenade, Grilled Shrimps with a Potato Salad

Seafood Salad from Adagio Taverna

Crab Cake from Marcello's at the Ho Ho Kus Inn

BBQ Shrimp and Buttermilk Cornbread from Heart and Soul

Cold Pea Soup with Lobster from The Palace at Somerset Park

Shrimp with Orange Gelee from The Palace at Somerset Park

Jambalaya from Tim Schaeffer's Cuisine

Scallop and Tuna Seviche from The Park Steakhouse

Pazzo Pazzo Meatball with Pignoli Nuts

Tiramisu Pastry from Basilico

Mini Lemon Meringue with Chocolate Brownie Cake from Sweet Sisters

Mixed Berry Sorbet and Lemon Pound Cake from The Stage House

[Gifted Gourmet]

Absolutely, positively green with envy, Jason!

And those BBQ shrimp with the buttermilk cornbread made me weak in the knees with sheer desire ...

[Jason Perlow]

I apologize for the quality of several of the pictures -- I had to photo enhance them because the ones I took in the main ballroom (there were 3 rooms, the best light was in the Conservatory) had very muted light and they were using heat lamps at some of the stations, which cast an orange glow on things.

[jb_973]

Based on those wonderful photos, I really regret not attending the event this year! I will have to make a better effort to attend next time around.

To those that did attend, what was your favorite dish?

[Rachel Perlow]

My favorite was definitely the scallops from Rod's. They were huge, sweet, perfectly cooked -- it was my main course. I had two before I realized there were other rooms to go to! The steak and wild mushrooms from St. James Gate was excellent as well. They managed to have perfectly medium-rare steak with a dark crunchy exterior. Also nice was that they sliced the steak into manageable bites, important when you're mostly eating standing up, while holding a glass as well.

Fascino served a delicious crab cake with celery root slaw. I guess Jason's picture of that didn't come out well. Crab cake was very big last night, I saw three versions of it, plus a salmon cake was served by Cinque Figlie. Next to them, Pierre's was tossing up a very grown up mac & cheese -- enhanced with truffles. A couple more tables down, 15 Fox Place offered tastes of Pizza Rustica and and antipasto kabab, along with a pair of Italian cookies and fruit skewers.

The two dishes served in the mini cocktail glasses were cold sweet pea soup with lobster and poached shrimp with orange gelee, both very good, but the orange & shrimp was among the best of the evening. I especially appreciated that The Park Steak House and The Palace were of the few restaurant participants that made something seasonal. This touches upon my only complaint about the evening -- there was way too much hearty winter fare for a warm spring evening. For example, Garlic Rose served beef tips in a reduction sauce with whole garlic cloves in it. There were several examples of ravioli in cream sauces. Speaking of creamy, Joe's American Grill was serving New England Clam Chowder -- I didn't see anyone take any. But then I was really surprised that chain restaurants like Joe's and Papa Razzi were invited to participate (that corner of the room seemed to be the Mall at Short Hills section).

OK, one other negative... I was chatting with the chef from Garlic Rose and mentioned that, while the sauteed beef was very good, it needed salt (for those who know, if I say something needs salt, that means something, Jason is always complaining that I under-salt my cooking, I'm rather salt sensitive). He said that other people had complained in the past that it's too salty, and the problem is that if they go through a slow period the sauce continues reducing and the salt gets concentrated. That sounds to me like they always make this dish for outside events like this. Why not make something that is more stable and seasonal? Frankly, I think Garlic Rose could just put out some bread with their fabulous garlic dip and be the hit of the evening!

To end on a positive note, that Mixed Berry Sorbet and Lemon Pound Cake from The Stage House was my favorite dessert of the evening. It was nice to sit down with it and a glass of lovely Masala Chai from Wazwan @ Santoor before heading home.