Tom Colicchio, Linton Hopkins, Gabriel Rucker, and Others Present Edible

In most cases, a “gastronomic tour of American cuisine” would require a couple of months and thousands of miles on the road. However, last night at Craft, Tom Colicchio — and Steve Plotnicki, whose Opinionated About U.S. Restaurants 2011 guidebook was just released — flexed their culinary clout to bring together notable toques from across the land. Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill prepared a wild shrimp with pickles dish; Gabriel Rucker of Portland’s Le Pigeon served a course of Oregon King Salmon; Colicchio himself offered poached squab; and Atlanta’s Linton Hopkins (whom you’ll remember from the Food Chain) presented his pork belly with peanuts and wild greens. And that was by no means all. Have a drool over all twelve dishes in our slideshow.