The broccoli sandwich from No. 7 Sub was equal parts virtue (broccoli!) and vice (everything else), and as a bonus came with some nifty cookies.
We ate an ungodly amount of food at Choice Eats last night, and, if the crowds were any indication, so did you. What follows is a sampling of what we were able to resist consuming long enough to photograph. Note that although these photos reflect our vegetarian and pescatarian leanings, not to mention an insistent sweet tooth, we’re extremely grateful for all of the wonderful chefs and restaurants who lent their time and labor to the event, and helped to make this year’s Choice Eats better than ever.
Coney Island Taste’s ceviche mixto was a refreshing testament to the joys of pescatarian eating.
Del Posto’s chocolate and eggplant — ice cream and chocolate sauce served over a tile of fried eggplant — caused some of the longest lines of the evening, as attendees queued to watch the restaurant’s chefs painstakingly shape delicate ice cream quenelles.
Over at BaoHaus, Eddie Huang topped white rice with an incendiary combination of chili peppers, celery, and legumes.
Dirt Candy’s Amanda Cohen served delectably smoky fried cauliflower with buttermilk waffles and wild arugula. Hello, sunshine.
The handsome fellas from Baked made salt-and-pepper sandwich cookies that we could have eaten by the handful.
The Red Hook Lobster Pound’s lobster roll par excellence.
Mercadito’s shrimp and avocado taco was both tiny and perfect.
Pork terrine from the Vanderbilt: pig, mustard, cornichon, and bread, straightforward and straight-up wonderful.
An arepa with fried plantain, cheese, avocado, and hot sauce from Caracas Arepa Bar. Two bites of mighty fine.
Blue Stove really pulled out all the stops for Choice Sweets, serving fat, luscious wedges of their lovely pies.
Dressler’s grilled baby octopus with bean salad. The infants were expertly charred, the beans firm yet tender.
The Good Batch put out a good spread of stroopwafels and oatmeal cookies.
At Choice Sweets, Del Posto proffered salty, chocolate-covered gelato pops, and they rocked.
The Fat Radish folks dreamed up these roast vegetable stacks with date purée. They were almost like dessert, but in a good way.
A quintet of exceptionally delicious spreads from Kashkaval. Clockwise from bottom left: red pepper-walnut, tzatziki, beet tapenade, olive tapenade, and baba ghanoush.
Kumquat Cupcakery’s assortment of two-bite delights nearly caused a riot.
Mile End’s wild mushroom knish was both vegetarian and really, really good.
Umi Nom’s sautéed tofu, fermented black beans, Thai chilis, and basil: soy done right.
SCRATCHbread’s buttercream brownies: balls-out brilliant.
Liddabit Sweets’ caramel corn with honeycomb candy crumbs and dark chocolate: proof that happiness, however impermanent, can be held in the palm of your hand.