We’re into foams and deconstruction as much as the next guy, but nothing satisfies us more than our mom’s simple yet singular gazpacho (this is the half-Spanish half of Grub Street talking). We’re not the only ones prone to such nostalgia: Pichet Ong’s mother, Ruby, who to this day frosts the cupcakes at his bakery, raised him on a roasted-eggplant dish that will make an appearance on the Mother’s Day tasting menu at P*ONG. We asked a handful of chefs which childhood dishes they remember most fondly, and which ones, if any, they’ve reinvented as their own.

The restaurant explosion on the Upper West side has reached mushroom-cloud proportions. How else can you explain the previously unimaginable Taste of the Upper West Side, a big tasting event scheduled for May 31? Numerous chefs are involved, ranging from new arrivals like John Fraser and Ed Brown, of Dovetail and Eighty One, to name chefs like Zak Pelaccio and Cesare Casella who have jumped on the UWS bandwagon. Point of interest: Casella’s restaurant is cited as “Salumeria,” — the first glimpse of the venture’s until-now nebulous identity. Admission is two-tiered: It’s $100 in advance for the tasting event and $250 if you also want to attend the VIP cocktail hour preceding it.

New Taste of the Upper West Side [Official site]

Related: Cesare Casella the Latest Chef Onboard the UWS Bandwagon