The Chowdown

Episode 14 w/ Seraphim & Kelly Geary

joe@thechowdown.com — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:30:00 +0000

Finally, a girls’ night out! To combat the culinary and turntabular testosterone we’d racked up in recent months, last Tuesday was all about the females, with DJ Seraphim and chef Kelly Geary taking over the club. As it turned out, the night was an L-word in more ways than one: we not only hyped the ladies, but also an impressive variety of locally produced foods. Jerlayn’s old college buddy Anne Saxelby was first up with amazing American cheeses from her namesake boutique in Essex Market; we can’t really remember the names of any of these obscure beauties, thanks to drinking three glasses of wine before dinner, but we liked it when she described the squishiest one as "if brie and ice cream had a baby." Next, Kelly took the reins with a delightful salad of organic heirloom tomatoes topped with ricotta and basil. Passing the time before the entree, we stopped to take a shot of apple-cider vodka from upstate distillery Heart of the Hudson (which may have been an ingenious or disastrous decision given our relatively empty stomachs… hard to say). Finally, we got down to business with New Orleans-style prawns, served with sautéed okra and plenty of grilled bread for sopping up the sauce, then followed with vanilla ice cream topped by blueberry-lemon sauce.

Throughout, Seraphim pimped a local flavor of a different sort, bring her San Francisco brand of electro-heavy bangers to our opposite coast. "This is the best first New York gig I could’ve had!" said she, waggling her wine glass for a refill. Big ups to Sarah for caning Anna’s favorite track of the season, the dirty-ass Boys Noize remix of Feist’s "My Moon My Man"—now that’s some girl power. For a full recap, hit photos and the mix here.
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Episode 13 w/ Sam Valenti & Paul Nanni

joe@thechowdown.com — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:19:16 +0000

Detroit has been the birthplace of a lot of things over the years: Ford cars, Coney dogs, techno. (Don’t act like you don’t know what a Coney dog is—a hot dog smothered in meat-chili sauce? Oy!) For those of us who couldn’t make it to this year’s DEMF to sample such fineries, the Chowdown brought Detroit back to New York for just one night. Last Tuesday, Episode 13 saw two boys from Michigan rock out in the big city, with Sam Valenti IV of Ghostly International DJing to the taste of chef Paul Nanni’s upscale renditions of comfort foods from the Heartland.

We warmed up with an incredible creamed broccoli soup, ingeniously paired with a tiny cheese sandwich, which we unceremoniously dunked in the bowl. Then came a quarter of iceberg lettuce, fancied up with pumpkin seeds, a poached egg, and a delicious pouf of Roquefort foam. Finally, the mysterious, fabled "corn dog," which turned out to be homemade sausages that tasted oddly like the carnie snack when dipped into the corny, creamy mustard sauce. Hey, we never said it was a diet-friendly menu—that’s not how they do it in the Midwest! Behind the decks, Sam fattened us up slowly, easing us in with bites of early Madonna and Inner City. Then Claude Von Stroke’s "Who’s Afraid of Detroit?" broke out of the speakers, and we jumped up from our half-eaten banana cream pies to hit the dance floor. You can check out pics and hear Sam’s mix right here.

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Episode 12 w/ The Rub & The Smoke Joint

joe@thechowdown.com — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 21:30:00 +0000

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen—unless, of course, you’re at the Chowdown Episode 12, in which case, just get out the ice cubes and sweat it out. New York was in the midst of a crazy heat wave on Tuesday, which meant that, despite cranking the ACs to full blast, the interior of APT was definitely on the sweltering side. Luckily, the sultry air channeled our steamy Southern theme perfectly, as Brooklyn institutions The Smoke Joint and The Rub came through to give the Chowdown a heapin’ helping of down-home soul. Craig and Ben served up four courses of what they call "New South Cuisine," a modern take on traditional dishes found below the Mason Dixon line. First off was a watermelon and shrimp skewer, a tasty twist on food found on the North Carolina coast, followed by a fresh and light five-bean salad laced with buttermilk dressing. For the main course, the guys dished up some tender and smokey pulled pork, atop a bed of creamy grits, and finished with a cool slice of buttery pound cake and berries to beat the heat. As one of our friends exclaimed, "Those grits were just like my mamma used to make me in Texas!" Meanwhile, Ayres, Eleven, and Cosmo Baker of The Rub were on hand to lay down the funkiest Chowdown yet. Between James, Curtis, Aretha, and Stevie, The Rub had the sweaty APT audience workin’ up them appetites. Download the entire two-and-a-half-hour mix here.

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Episode 11 w/ Max Pask and Brandon Crowe

joe@thechowdown.com — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:32:46 +0000

What a night. It started off innocently enough—Brandon dished up an amuse bouche (bite-sized) of coriander-crusted bay scallop and sweet carrot coulis on a brussel sprout leaf, while Max kicked off his set with some French downtempo tracks. Next up was a refreshing trio of salade, followed by a light and fluffy pot pie la turquie. Brandon’s main course was a filet of striped bass on a crispy potato cake, dressed-to-impress with three types of sauces. By the time dessert was ready to be served, we topped everyone off with a shot of Calvados and Max cranked up the tempo a notch or two. In the true spirit of the ‘down, episode 11 went from fancy French fare to some full-on dance-party-USA silliness.

Hefty thanks go out to everyone who came out, to APT and staff. Extra big thank yous go out to Brandon Crowe, who provided the artful and exquisite menu, and to mastermind Max Pask, who schooled us all in the art of the build, taking us from loungey dinner vibe early on to all-out rave anthems later (Yes, we did, in fact, drunkenly wail ‘We Are Your Friends’ in unison. Sacre bleu!). Check out the photos by Yoni and Max’s masterful mix below for evidence .

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Episode 10 w/ James F!@#$%^ Friedman & Ratha Chau

joe@thechowdown.com — Mon, 14 May 2007 18:23:52 +0000

We brought the heat—literally—for our second time out at APT on May 10. The Chowdown Episode 10 rocked out to James F!@#$%^ Friedman and a sweat-inducing five-course monster menu by Ratha Chau from Kampuchea Restaurant. Download the newest episode below for two hours of electro-fried bangers and inadequate descriptions of the most incredible Cambodian smorgasbord we’ve experienced yet in New York. For all not lucky enough to experience Ratha’s artistry, make sure you taste for yourself at his LES eatery Kampuchea.

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Episode 9 w/ Brennan Green & Joey Campanaro

joe@thechowdown.com — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 18:13:17 +0000

Thanks to all who came out for our very first NYC Chowdown. The food/music was amazing, we had a blast, and this is only the beginning! Download the latest episode for some dubbed-out spacey disco by Brennan Green and random ramblings by us truly. Extra points to our host Joe Encarnacion for gracing us with some karaoke singing as he threw Bel Biv Devoe’s “Poison” into the mix. Good lord, did we get that on tape?

We started the evening with chef Joey Campanaro from the Little Owl hustling like a disco dancer in the kitchen. His first course, an incredible bread salad with heirloom tomatoes, balsamic onions, and parmesan cheese, was undoubtedly the star dish of the night. The entree followed old-school Italian-style, with a breast of chicken marsala served over roasted peppers, escarole, and a crazy-good wild-mushroom risotto. (If we’d just had a few more buckets of that risotto to take home with us, we could’ve died happy.) By the time the almond panna cotta appeared tableside, all slathered with berries and crumbled biscotti, we knew chef Joey was playing for keeps. Of course, us rowdier types somehow made room for several of APT’s obscenely gigantic punchbowls—not sure how Malibu fit into the classic Italian theme of the evening, but by midnight we were willing to make allowances…

Hungry yet? You can hear the audio version of the dinner party right here. Photos and bios after the jump.

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The Chowdown NYC is upon us

joe@thechowdown.com — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 03:45:47 +0000

The Chowdown has finally found its new home at the well-established, well-reputed APT in the meatpacking district of New York City. But the new digs are but one of our many upgrades.

The Chowdown will also open its doors to the public. Every month (starting in April), we’ll invite one hot-shot chef and one hot-shot DJ to showcase their talents to a live audience of forty. Pre-sale reservations for each episode will be sold exclusively on this site, so check back very soon to reserve your spot.

Episode 8 w/ Ryan Poulsen (SF Finale pt. 4)

joe@thechowdown.com — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 23:15:40 +0000

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Ok, so the Chowdown has been gone from SF for, like, WEEKS now, and dammit, we just can’t seem to give a proper farewell. That’s why we let Gunclub resident RP bid the tearful adieu for us through the modern miracle of song.

Coming soon: The Chowdown NYC!

Episode 7 w/ Justin Martin (SF Finale pt. 3)

joe@thechowdown.com — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 17:25:29 +0000

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Part 3 of the final SF Chowdown features Justin Martin droppin’ one hot set of farty summer jams. Keep this one on heavy rotation while you roll the block with your topdown.

(Excuse the open mic. This is when it started to get a little rowdy)

Episode 6 w/ Moxie Musik (SF Finale pt. 2)

joe@thechowdown.com — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 17:28:00 +0000

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Part two of the final San Francisco episode features DJs Bryan James and Qzen reprise their roles as Chowdown veterans for a full two-hours of relentlessly thumpin’ electro-tech dirt.

(Sorry, no recipe or track list this time. We’ll pick up where we left off when we get up and running in NYC!)