Meeting Tom Colicchio and mulling about free food

We recently went to Williams-Sonoma at Columbus Circle to meet Top Chef's Tom Colicchio and his 'wichcraft business partner Sisha Ortuzar (who were both very nice). We had them sign their new book, 'wichcraft, for us and learned that Colicchio's in-laws share our first names (and they're happily still together!). While waiting in line for the book signing, we watched the Williams-Sonoma staff make paninis and sandwiches based on the book. We were able to sample these tasty creations (ours were braised flank steak with onions and gruyere cheese on Sullivan Street Bakery bread). Intrigued by possibly making a meal out of free food samples, we made our way to Whole Foods to see if it could be done.

3 types of granola: regular, cranberry, and maple

Tofu and udon noodle

So, for free food, everything we sampled was pretty good; however, we definitely did not find enough samples to make a satisfying meal. Between the book, and the cooking demonstration, we were able to make a few delicious paninis!

Prosciutto and Canadian Cheddar Panini (left) and Ham and Habanero cheese Panini (top right). Both paninis were made with Sullivan Street Bakery baguette and served with basil extra virgin olive oil (brought back from Napa's St. Helena Olive Oil Co.)

We didn't succeed with eating for free...maybe our next experiment should mimic Le Bernadin's chef Eric Ripert's dollar store menu. Hmm. Maybe not.