Toque Fiend

By The Editors
August 21, 2013 9:00 am

Show of Cronut-stained hands:

Who’s waited in line for more than an hour to get something to eat in New York City?

Well that makes … all of us.

Which is why you should drop that Umami burger, grab a date and head for the gastronomical summit that is De Gustibus, mercifully line-free for the first time in its 33-year history and just now selling tickets.

For the uninitiated, DG is a semi-annual pop-up culinary school housed in the Macy’s Herald Square that invites chefs de rigueur to educate – and dine with – their acolytes.

Each class goes as follows: a top-shelf toque (say, Damon Wise of impossible-to-book NoHo bistro Lafayette) takes the stage to cook a multi-course meal, all the while discussing the techniques and culinary tradition that precede it. Your job: devouring that meal as it appears in front of you, one gob-smackingly delicious course at a time.

This season’s lineup might be the hardest-hitting in DG’s storied history, with culinary classes taught by everyone from Pok Pok’s Andy Ricker to five of the guys who helm the Nobu empire.

And whereas attendees in years past have lined up hours early to claim the best seats, DG’s newly revamped website allows ticketholders to digitally book their spot the morning of the event.

As for the Cronuts: haven’t you an intern?

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