Photos Courtesy Alyssa Ringler

The Tasting Table team is known for a great many things as hosts of the annual and bi-coastal Lobster Roll Rumble and one of the internet’s most sought after resources for food lovers around the country. Unless you’re truly in the know though, on an otherwise bustling Broome Street corner sits Tasting Table’s Test Kitchen where their frequent invite only parties have become venues for cookbook releases, showcases for chefs and mixologists and on Tuesday evening, product launches. To celebrate the release of Land O Lakes’ European Style Super Premium Butter, dozens of tastemakers were welcomed inside of the Test Kitchen for a pop-up cocktail party, with dishes created using the iconic butter-maker’s new high end brand.

 

Members of the media and some lucky guests filed into the second floor space which combines one part working kitchen and one part comfortable lounge. Fittingly some refreshing drinks and tasty fare would be served in the very space that both rooms converged. The result was a literal smorgasbord of delectable eats from passed around bites like “Crispy Pulled Pork and Grilled Corn Succotash” to a full on sandwich bar, equipped with an assortment of bread and charcuterie, “Chile Grilled Steak” and a sensational “Butter Poached Skate Slider with Capers” that was put together brilliantly.

 

Fortunately, the smooth butter-laden creations didn’t stop there as the “Brown Butter Old Fashioned” quickly became the evening’s most sought after cocktail. Traditional in taste with a touch of subtle sweetness, the “Old Fashioned” and the inventive “Thyme Daiquiri” served on the rocks, were equally refreshing given the seasonal August heat. Most guests alternated between grabbing bites of food and mingling with other attendees- most of whom seemed excited to be in attendance at such an exclusive affair. Of course no Tasting Table event would be complete without gift bags and each eventgoer would find themselves with their very own golden butter brownies, a traditional ceramic butter keeper- and of course, two boxes of their very own Land ‘O Lakes European Style Super Premium Butter to take home. Something tells us though, that despite our best efforts, we won’t be able to touch what the Tasting Table chefs prepared during the course of Tuesday evening’s festive affair.

- Jane Van Arsdale