The first New York International Olive Oil Competition will extend beyond the theater and judging rooms at The International Culinary Center and into restaurant kitchens throughout the City.
Between April 15 and 19, the week of the competition, select New York restaurants will take part in the event by featuring contest entries in special pairing dishes.
Choosing from the more than 700 vying to be declared the best olive oils in the world, renowned chef Seamus Mullen’s Tertulia, in the West Village will show how extra virgin olive oils are paired with foods to enhance and elevate tastes.
Mullen’s first solo restaurant, Tertulia features olive oil as central to its modern take on Spanish cuisine.
In 2011, the New York Times awarded Tertulia two stars, reporting that the restaurant was, “great fun: a casual Spanish gastropub that sees its roots in the cider bars of northern Spain, and its success in a cuisine that is equal parts pork and seafood, salt and olive oil, garlic and smoked paprika.”
Writing for New York magazine, Adam Platt wrote that Mullen’s cooking at Tertulia, “is authentic in its essential Spanishness, but it’s also brawny, seasonal, and deeply flavored in a nuevo rústico, distinctly New York kind of way.” The magazine awarded Tertulia three stars.
Tertulia was also a 2012 finalist for the James Beard Foundation’s award for Best New Restaurant.
Mullen is sure to make great use of this year’s competing olive oils with his passion for Mediterranean cooking and fresh, seasonal ingredients. He is an accomplished author, recently publishing his first cookbook, “Hero Food: How Cooking with Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better,” and serving as a contributing columnist to Everyday with Rachael Ray.
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