☞ SEE: Cooking with Marcus Samuelsson

Marcus Samuelsson had a great cooking and tasting presentation at the 5th on the Park building (1485 5th Avenue & 120th Street) last night and we were lucky enough to be part of the large crowd that showed up for this special event.  The celebrity chef talked up on the diversity of Harlem's history and how the cuisine for the forthcoming Red Rooster restaurant at 310 Lenox will reflect that heritage. A series of cooking demonstration had guests shown how to make the perfect Swedish meatballs, season gravlax and a quick exchange with the audience revealed everyone's preference for the best fried chicken (dark meat, on the bone and double fried).  Other dishes such as the chef signature shrimp and grits were sampled along with miniature velvet cupcake shots later in the evening.

After the cooking show, Chef Samuelsson was gracious as usual since he made time to pose for photos alongside guests and answer everyone's questions.  To top off the night, we walked out on to the 26th floor balcony (which folks didn't really seem to be taking advantage of) and enjoyed the view of Central Park and the Chrysler building.