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Tuesday night, a few of the FoodieLink community gathered at 208 West 96th Street with real estate representatives and potential buyers to attend a Gourmet Everyday cooking demonstration organized by Food-Shelter.com and given by Chef Tony Balderose, of Gourmet Garage to showcase this new apartment development created by Manor Properties Group, LLC on the Upper West Side. With wines poured by Nicole DeCicco of Upstate Wine Co., guests enjoyed seeing Chef Tony prepare a seasonal Vegetarian Mushroom Fritatta using local ingredients found at his store, which is just steps away from the apartment building.

The kitchen in this apartment has the most up-to-date appliances, including a Viking Stove and SubZero refrigerator, it also has a double-sink, which I have rarely seen in New York apartments. What was striking to me, too, is how warm the kitchen felt with the stainless steel appliances, wooden cabinets, and white Corian countertops. It opens out onto the living room, which has floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing for lots of light and fresh air. There is also a window in the kitchen itself, always useful when making something that produces a lot of smoke or when a cooking mishap has taken place.

Having Gourmet Garage near one’s home is also a huge convenience. They do try to source local products and produce, especially seasonal items. With Chef Tony on hand to cook for everyone, it was easy to see how great an entertaining space this apartment would be and how the flow would work when guests come over for a cozy meal.

Another amenity of the kitchen area is the wine refrigerator, which would be ideal for storing the bottles that Nicole brought with her to accompany the food. The white was a 2009 Vidal Blanc by Thirsty Owl and was as she put it a “zingy” choice to pair with the meal. She mentioned that it would be ideal as an aperitif-type drink, as it wasn’t too dry, too sweet, or too heavy. I completely agree with her on this. Very drinkable and light on the palate, this would be a perfect cocktail party choice to serve in place of prosecco or champagne.

The red wine selection was from Fox Run Vineyards. Like the previous selection, this company is also based in New York, highlighting the wonderful variety of vintages that the state is currently producing. The 2007 Cabernet Franc/Lemberger we sampled was a more robust wine, filled with the flavors of ripe fruit like cherries, plums, and blackberries. While it paired fine with the frittata, I had visions of it more with something heartier like a leg of lamb or lamb chops, food that would definitely go well with a dinner party held in the living room of this beautiful apartment.

For further information about this event, please contact Lorraine Gimblett (lorraine@food-shelter.com) or Joanne Jordan (joanne@food-shelter.com) of Food Shelter.

208 West 96th Street was developed by Manor Properties Group, LLC (www.manorny.com). Halstead Property Development Marketing, LLC is the exclusive sales and marketing firm for this project.