28 Dec Open Kitchen Tasting
Open Kitchen Tasting
Every once in a while Union Kitchen, the food business incubator of which we’re members, throws open the doors and invites grocery buyers, restaurateurs, and the general public to come in and see what’s been cooking.
Two weeks ahead of time, it sounded like a fantastic idea to join in.
Two hours ahead of time, we were wondering what we’d gotten ourselves into, as both of us tried to rush from full days of work, gather our menus and business cards, hundreds of sample cups, and 10 bottles of cocktails, and get to the kitchen in time to make our station presentable before guests started arriving.
But we made it. And caught our breath. And had even more fun than we originally thought we would. It was such a lively evening, with a full kitchen, dozens of food makers, a few of us serving drinks (hey there, Wild Roots, Element, and Embitterment!), and a steady stream of curious tasters.
Our two favorite things about the evening:
- Remembering just what great people the other Union Kitchen members are–what a fantastic, creative, energetic, and optimistic bunch, each of them simply oozing with passion for the products they spend their nights and weekends making: homemade Turkish food, and barbecue, and pineapple-sage jam, and portobello parmesan tamales, and blueberry rosemary shrub. The members at Union Kitchen are like inventors, or like explorers charting new areas of the food universe. I hope every single one of them breaks it big;
- Serving sample sized cocktails–Why don’t we serve cocktail samplers more often? It’s both practical and fun. We’re all about helping people figure out what cocktails they like and why. That takes trying a few. And trying a few cocktails can be a little dangerous … unless, that is, they come in miniature. Try them all, without any fear!
