Veritasty: Truthfully Delicious

Hot off the tails of our last foray into the food festivals at Beer, Bourbon & BBQ , we visited the New York Oyster & Beer Festival this weekend and had a shucking good time! I wasn't sure what to expect, since a lot of the food festivals we've been to have been, shall we say, meatier.  They typically drew crowds of people looking to get wasted and fill their stomachs from time to time with food.  In fact, I spoke to a woman pouring Crabbie's ginger beer who also worked a previous food festival and she mentioned how at the more meat-centric or alcohol-centric ones, people wind up puking in the corner or passing out drunk on the tables.  So I imagined at an oyster festival, we'd see a few more khahis and polo shirts and boat shoes.  The crowd was actually pretty diverse, so it was interesting to see that people from all walks of life enjoy oysters, probably like a condensed cross section of the history of oysters (plentiful and c...

Peter Xavier Kelly beat Iron Chef Bobby Flay during the Battle of the Cowboy Ribeye.  Bobby Flay, losing at a grilling competition?!  His victor has got to be good.  We found out just how good last weekend at a dear friend’s surprise graduation party. The restaurant X2O Xavier’s on the Hudson is up in Yonkers, a nice train ride from Grand Central on the Metro North.  The décor is lovely, minimalist, and reminiscent of the sea – wavy and curvy glass fixtures – which is appropriate because it sits right at the riverside.  Everything was elegant and beautiful, including the food! First we started with Caesar’s salad and bread.  The bread was interestingly trapezoid-shaped and dusted with a cinnamon-y sugar.  The salad was delicious, if not very remarkable. Then, we picked different items off the menu for appetizers and entrees.  I had wild mushroom ravioli and Alex had the shrimp and asparagus tempura.  My ravioli were a...