Last night WineChap was asked to sit down to dinner with Hagan Blount (@H18, The Wandering Foodie) and Keith Beavers (@evwgnyc, East Village Wine Geek, Alphabet City Wine Co., In Vino) at Beavers’ restaurant in the East Village. The date was made as a part of Blount’s 93 Plates Project, and the occasion was simple: plate 81 of 93.
The 93 Plates Project is Blount’s calorically profound attempt to eat at 93 New York City eateries in 31 days; that’s 3 meals a day for a month, a.k.a. an invitation sent to gout and a dangerous waltz with diabetes. Why? “Why not?” he says. Beyond sheer audaciousness, however, Blount is also pounding tables in order to “raise awareness for the launch of the IRL Arts Foundation’s education and scholarship programs, and encouraging people to spend their food and entertainment budget locally.”
So, on January 1st, Blount posted himself in NYC and vowed to do nothing but eat and blog for 31 days straight, sharing each plate with a different NYC food (or, ahem, wine) writer. But here’s the real shocker: each restaurant he’s chosen to eat at has agreed to feed both him and his guest for free. It goes without saying that it’s no small task to convince 93 New York City restaurants to pay for the meal of a relatively unknown food blogger—not to mention his guest’s—but once you meet the guy, you understand why. He’s immediately disarming and down-to-earth; his look is more frat boy that hipster foodie. He’s just a regular dude who butchers, “whatevers” the word Bechamel, and all but keels over after his first-ever plate of fried artichokes. He’s clearly a far cry from the over-versed NYC food crowd, but that’s part of his charm. When you eat with him, it’s almost as if you’re witnessing his initial love affair with food—you’d never know that he’s been writing about it for years.
As for the other man on hand, Beavers has an equally honest approach, but his love affair is with wine. The guy has built a mini East Village Empire, and is now contracted to be the Food Network’s resident wine dude on Food2.com. He’s hardly a novice, but his irrepressible enthusiasm would suggest otherwise. He is exactly what he claims to be—a wine geek—but more importantly, he’s someone who isn’t afraid to ask questions and admit ignorance every now and then. Sounds simple, but in the grand context of the wine world, it’s frighteningly rare.
And so, with Hagan Blount—the out-of-town anti-foodie—and Keith Beavers—the EV’s wine antichrist—the 81st plate was polished off.
A Waltz with Diabetes: Hagan Blount’s 93 Plates Project
Last night WineChap was asked to sit down to dinner with Hagan Blount (@H18, The Wandering Foodie) and Keith Beavers (@evwgnyc, East Village Wine Geek, Alphabet City Wine Co., In Vino) at Beavers’ restaurant in the East Village. The date was made as a part of Blount’s 93 Plates Project, and the occasion was simple: plate 81 of 93.
The 93 Plates Project is Blount’s calorically profound attempt to eat at 93 New York City eateries in 31 days; that’s 3 meals a day for a month, a.k.a. an invitation sent to gout and a dangerous waltz with diabetes. Why? “Why not?” he says. Beyond sheer audaciousness, however, Blount is also pounding tables in order to “raise awareness for the launch of the IRL Arts Foundation’s education and scholarship programs, and encouraging people to spend their food and entertainment budget locally.”
So, on January 1st, Blount posted himself in NYC and vowed to do nothing but eat and blog for 31 days straight, sharing each plate with a different NYC food (or, ahem, wine) writer. But here’s the real shocker: each restaurant he’s chosen to eat at has agreed to feed both him and his guest for free. It goes without saying that it’s no small task to convince 93 New York City restaurants to pay for the meal of a relatively unknown food blogger—not to mention his guest’s—but once you meet the guy, you understand why. He’s immediately disarming and down-to-earth; his look is more frat boy that hipster foodie. He’s just a regular dude who butchers, “whatevers” the word Bechamel, and all but keels over after his first-ever plate of fried artichokes. He’s clearly a far cry from the over-versed NYC food crowd, but that’s part of his charm. When you eat with him, it’s almost as if you’re witnessing his initial love affair with food—you’d never know that he’s been writing about it for years.
As for the other man on hand, Beavers has an equally honest approach, but his love affair is with wine. The guy has built a mini East Village Empire, and is now contracted to be the Food Network’s resident wine dude on Food2.com. He’s hardly a novice, but his irrepressible enthusiasm would suggest otherwise. He is exactly what he claims to be—a wine geek—but more importantly, he’s someone who isn’t afraid to ask questions and admit ignorance every now and then. Sounds simple, but in the grand context of the wine world, it’s frighteningly rare.
And so, with Hagan Blount—the out-of-town anti-foodie—and Keith Beavers—the EV’s wine antichrist—the 81st plate was polished off.
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