[1]New York is crawling with food bloggers, but it’s ironic how a French woman prompted us to finally meet in person. Clotilde of Chocolate and Zucchini [2] (she’s the quintessential food blogger and an NPR writer, for good reason) took a break from Paris and travelled to NYC this weekend.Just to show you how much influence she has, she proposed that us local bloggers meet at Otto [3], Mario Batali’s restaurant, and we all joined her this Sunday.
I met old “friends” (people whose blogs I already read) as well as new ones. One news article compared Clotilde to Audrey Tautou in Amelie, and I’d have to agree. She’s really cute in person, and I’m glad she’s the food blogger representative to the media.
It was cool to meet local “celebrities” like Josh of The Food Section [4] and Adam of The Amateur Gourmet [5]. I also bumped into Julie of A Finger in Every Pie [6] (I was so flattered–she knew my blog name after I merely told her my first name), Lulu of Lulu’s Gonna Love Manhattan [7], Samantha of The Samantha Files [8], David of What I See [9], Danielle of Celebrity Baby Blog [10], and Paul of Paulfrankenstein.org [11]. I had hoped to meet Debbie of Words to Eat By [12], Kelli of Lovescool [13], Allen of The Impetuous Epicure [14], Andrea of The Strong Buzz [15], Alaina of A Full Belly [16] and Adam of Slice [17], but alas, another time. (How’s that for name dropping?)
I don’t have a liking for drinks, so I opted for “Gelotto” instead. Susanne (in white) and Andrea (in pink) and I split a trio of olive oil, hazelnut chocolate chip and ricotta gelati. (Picture is at the bottom of David’s post [18].) New York foodies like Adam [19] and New York magazine [20] unamimously agree that the olive oil gelato is the best in the city, and my favorite condiment is Nutella, so those two flavors were no-brainers. My favorite of the bunch, however, was the ricotta. It tasted just like cheesecake. But I have to say, the Gelotto wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. In Italy, the gelato flavors explode in your mouth (chocolate gelato tastes like the highest quality chocolate bar, and fruit gelato tastes like the ripest fruit imaginable). At Otto, the flavors were more subtle.
Also, David [9] shared fava bean bruschetta with everyone. It came with crusty artisan bread. The fava bean puree tasted like buttery, garlicky mashed potatoes. It was an awesome combination of soft, chewy and crunchy. Otto’s now one of my favorite restaurants! Supposedly the main dishes and pizza aren’t so hot, but I’d be content just ordering the appetizers and gelato. If you can’t get a reservation, the bar area is spacious and provides instant gratification.
We bloggers were so inspired that we’re getting together again for a potluck! If you’re interested, leave a comment at Lulu’s Gonna Love Manhattan [21] or e-mail [22] her with the subject “NYC Bloggers Potluck.”