Review: Edible Manhattan's Good Beer Event

Jeremy and I heard about Edible Manhattan's Good Beer event and thought it sounded fun. This event was the publication's 6th annual, and it had a pretty good showing. Not sure how many people were there, maybe 200, and there were about 65+ food vendors and beer breweries represented.

The food and beer pairing was held at 82 Mercer event space, which is pretty cool and conducive to the event. Upon arrival, everyone was given a beer glass and a fork to use while navigating all of the vendors. Unfortunately, juggling your glass and your food plate is a common problem at these types of events and I really wish we had thought to bring our handy-dandy "glass holder necklaces."

(yes, we actually have these)

We were able to find some random spots around to post up for a minute while we ate and drank the current selection, however I would have really appreciated several high tops around the room.

There were many restaurants I knew of there, but it seemed like the unknowns (to me) were the most memorable. Since we ate and drank SO much, I thought it would be best to just highlight some of my favorite dishes from the night.

Good Restaurant featured toast topped with avocado, English pea and ricotta salata. The toast was crispy on the outside, but easy to bite, creating a nice vehicle for the avocado spread and fresh sweet peas. The ricotta was not the star here, but made the entire topping creamy and delicious.

Avocado toast

L&W Oyster Co. featured a sloppy shark taco with fennel coleslaw and salsa verde. I am not sure if I have ever had shark before, but this was great! I love fish tacos and this one did not disappoint. The shark was blackened and seasoned well, and honestly tasted similar to a white fish like tilapia. The fennel coleslaw and salsa verde freshened the dish up with some crunch and a little kick.

Sloppy shark taco

Gramercy Tavern served up jerk chicken with avocado and cucumber on a black rice chip. The chicken had a ton of flavor and a bit of spice, but the avocado and cucumber cooled it off. The black rice chip was a great base because it was thin, crispy, and held it's own salty flavor.

Jerk chicken on a black rice chip

Chapter One had by far the most robust offering with 2 giant pork ribs. The ribs were smoked and had a bourbon molasses glaze, served with grilled sweet corn relish on top. The meat was super tender and tasty, and the sauce was sweet-ish and good. The corn relish fell off as soon as you went to eat the rib, but the flavors were there and it was a nice accompaniment.

Smoked pork ribs

So I think I found my new favorite place - Jacob's Pickles! Well, I have not actually tried it other than the amazing spread of pickles they had at this event, but I am definitely intrigued. I love pickles of all forms and this display made me very happy - from cucumber pickles of varying flavors to string beans, carrots, and jalapenos.

Jacob's Pickles

The Vanderbilt served the most interesting dish of the night - carrot salami and rabbit mortadella. The carrots smoked and had an intensely smokey flavor, and the rabbit was in a salami/sausage form with pomegranate jelly. I actually didn't love either of these - the carrots were TOO smokey and the rabbit had an odd flavor that was kind of irony, but Jeremy was really into it.

Carrot salami and rabbit mortadella

Monument Lane brought duck roulette with pickled mustard seeds and red pepper jam on toast. I have had more flavorful dishes for sure, but I liked the flavor combination here and appreciated the duck.

Duck roulette

I also want to note an awesome new beer I got to try from Brooklyn Brewery. They were previewing Weizenhammer and I really enjoyed the bold taste. I tried many other beers at this event, but this one stuck out to me.

After about 2 hours we decided that we had tried pretty much everything, and were full to the point of discomfort, so it was time to head home. Overall a fun night, and I found a few new restaurants (to me) to add to the list!