1. The first rule of Eating Club is, you only tell trusted colleagues and food friends about Eating Club.
2. The second rule of Eating Club is, you do not talk about Eating Club to food tools.
3. If someone says stop, goes limp, taps out, the cena is over.
4. Two girls and a guy to a cena (with any trusted food friends and colleagues).
5. One cena at a time.
6. No shirts, no shoes, no cena.
7. Cena will last as long as they must.
8. If this is your first cena at Eating Club, you have to eat.

Yesterday we commenced with the first official (m)eating of Eating Club. S and B and I started Eating Club while collaborating on the Vermont project during spring term. For early, unofficial Eating Clubs we cena’d at Alta and Dell’anima. For this, the first official cena, we met at Pasita in the West Village. Going forward, founding club members, and a friend E, decided to meet bi-weekly throughout the summer at restaurants in our respective boroughs or neighborhoods. I have some research to do to find a place in my Upstate Gotham neighborhood worthy of Eating Club. But I think our next cena will be Greek in Astoria.

The garçon let me keep a copy of the menu, so here’s the menu we created, and shared and cared for our cena. For pasapalos, we enjoyed tequeños and yuca frita. I arrived late and my very thoughtful mates left some for me to try. They held up well to cooling and were still crispy, not soggy, on the outside. It took a while to decide on mains. This is a group of graduate food students, so we had plenty of food to talk about. The actual decision making process was civilized. B suggested the tropical and E the bistec ensaladas, S picked la reina and I picked queso valdeón for pizzas.

Some of the ingredients they’re using at Pasita are primo. The menu doesn’t describe them accurately, so you could miss some of the goodness. They’re obviously using some of the small, sweet avocados on the market currently. They have the perfect gradation from light to deep green, and are preciously sweet and creamy. The chicken is listed as shredded, but it’s more like pulled pork (only chicken). By its tender, juicy texture, and well-developed seasoning, was obviously slow cooked. The arugula used are baby leaves, not the full grown leaves that sometimes are a little to arugula-y. And folks, honey drizzled on cheese is just plain good.

A suggestion.. If you have a cocktail party, prepare a snack of fresh ricotta with honey drizzled over top and a pinch of sel and crushed red pepper. Or, try a bowl of blue and lighter flavoured cheeses, same honey and seasoning treatment.

The larder is running low and I’m famished. Time for a dearest Fairway run.

Buen provecho..