The Village Voice's Choice Eats

Here's the only person who might have managed a taste at every table.

Not from a lotus position, however, and not if she arrived too long after 6:30, when the doors opened on The Village Voice's first Choice Eats tasting event. Thirty-three favorite restaurants of Voice food critic Robert Sietsema were dishing the chow — including Culpepper's, which will fully reopen in two months after recovering from a devastating fire last December, my server told me.

The enthusiastic eaters who thronged the Puck Building polished off a few individual dishes by 8:00, and a number of restaurants (Fatty Crab may have been the first) were completely tapped out shortly thereafter. Several were still serving strong at 9:30, however, even as many of their colleagues were tidying up: Deshi Biryani, which continued to offer slow-baked baby goat with raisins, saffron, and basmati rice; Schnitzel Haus, which loaded my plate with a wurst-sauerkraut-potato shepherd's pie that I feared at the time (but hungered after several hours later); and Madiba, whose sponge pudding with custard was the only dish of the evening that prompted me to circle back for seconds.

A few more notable bites: house-cured pastrami from Fette Sau; spicy shrimp tacos from Mercadito; a cherry-leaf-wrapped azuki bean paste from Chiyono; coconut-sprinkled short ribs from Fatty Crab; Tuscan porchetta and white beans from Maremma; jerk chicken from Peppa's; sweet potato pudding from Krik Krak.

Did I mention that beer, wine, cocktails, and soft drinks were available for the asking?

Some 40 members of The World Food Lovers Dining Out Group joined me at the Puck Building, and their response was overwhelmingly positive; it's the kind of event we'd love to attend again. What's lined up for autumn, Village Voice?

The Village Voice's Choice Eats
March 11, 2008
The Puck Building
295 Lafayette St. (Houston-Jersey Sts.)
www.choice-eats.com

Comments

[Jeff]

I think I may have missed one or two tables. It was an amazing experience, it is hard to get a handle on everything I ate there.
Each one of those places deserves a visit.