Lush Life never met a pork belly it didn’t like- especially if that pork belly is miso glazed and butterscotch coated.  And, as expected, Sam Mason delivered his signature dish along with about a dozen other incredible dishes at last night’s Finger On The Pulse event at Hope Lounge. 

All summer long we’ve enjoyed the events put on by Greg and Darren Bresnitz from Finger On The Pulse, and last night, we got a chance to talk with them about their uncanny ability to bring food, booze, music, and art together- all at a reasonable price.  “Our friends can’t afford a plate at Tailor, but tonight they got a taste of the good life,” said Greg.  And, tonight, their friends (of which, they must have hundreds) dug into a stylized assortment of barbecue standards with Sam’s flavor-centric haute stylings perfectly framed by a greasy paper plate that barely held the feast together.  It’s honestly surprising with downscale being the trend among NYC’s culinary elite that an event like this could happen all for the price tag of just $5. 

Chef Mason brought out his [un]usually spiced twists on paper plate standards such as a thoughtfully harissa-laced potato salad and one of the most useful advances in molecular mixology to date:  vodka watermelon gel shots that didn’t crumble at the touch of a fork, allowing everyone to get the mouthful they always wanted.  This was all before he made his way back to his homebase, Tailor, where he was prepping for a primetime rush made even more difficult by a party of 40 seating at 9 p.m.

Of course, the food line wasn’t our only stop at the event.  $5 PBR and Le Tourment Verte Absinthe shot specials that brought the taste of the 80s back (ice cold cheap American beer and something that faintly tasted of Pierre Cardin cologne- put the two together and you’ve properly distilled a Member’s Only jacket and gotten a fine buzz).  Top that off with sangria (that was far better than it had to be), the crowd found enough inspiration to groove along to the non-stop DJ sets provided by our hosts Finger On The Pulse, Miss Toats, and Live Forever. 

Finger On The Pulse throws these events at least once a month, and if you’ve missed them this summer, make sure you make it to the next food, booze, music, and art orgy happening sometime around Halloween.  These guys are all about bringing you under the radar quality- making sure you’re that much cooler than the hipster telling you they made out with Mickey Avalon.  Let’s just hope they got a mouthful of that watermelon gel before they got a mouthful of Avalon.