| EVENT REPORT 10.13.08 10:53 AM |
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| Musical Tastes |
| The inaugural New York City Wine & Food Festival wasn't all about food and drink—entertainers abounded at each of the four-day event's big parties. |
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FROM NEW YORK The first New York City Wine & Food Festival this weekend filled the meatpacking district—and some other areas—with celebrated chefs and foodies for a four-day celebration of all things culinary. Led by Lee Schrager, director of special events for Southern Wine & Spirits and founder of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, this Northeast series was produced by Karlitz & Company and benefited the Food Bank for New York City and Share Our Strength.
Covering a variety of topics, the weekend-long fair included more than 70 individual seminars, panel discussions, food demonstrations, cooking classes, and large-scale tasting parties. And even with food squarely center stage, the biggest events of the festival—Burger Bash, Sweet, Chelsea Market After Dark, and Midnight Music and Munchies—also provided musical entertainment, from DJs and roaming performers in elaborate costumes to a coffee psychic and an appearance from Tom Colicchio singing and strumming a guitar. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | In addition to musicians at Chelsea Market After Dark—in one section a sextet played bluegrass-style tunes and a violinist paired with a double bassist in another—the Bobby Flay-hosted event on Thursday night also included live pumpkin carving. Hugh McMahon etched the faces of Flay, Rachael Ray, and Masaharu Morimoto into some of the large orange fruits near the Manhattan Fruit Exchange's setup.
Photo: BizBash |
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 | At the Target welcome center—where guests checked in for Meatpacking Uncorked—an opera singer supplied by Sotu Productions entertained alongside a harpist and a violinist.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | The custom costumes for the entertainers at Meatpacking Uncorked all included playful embellishments such as forks, fruit, and other culinary items.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | The Burger Bash took over the Brooklyn waterfront's Tobacco Warehouse on Friday, filling tented areas and open-air sections with chefs, food, and beer.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | At the Burger Bash, host Rachael Ray, Lee Schrager, and Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz all made an appearance, visiting burger stations and encouraging all to text their vote for the tastiest offering. Katie Lee Joel was crowned the winner with her patty melt dish.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | Away from the smokiness of grills at Friday's Burger Bash, a band played covers of songs like "September" and "So Happy Together," which prompted a few guests to show off some old-school dance moves.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | Closing out Friday's festivities was DailyCandy's Midnight Music and Munchies at the HighLine Ballroom. The highlight of this party, aside from the constant stream of alcohol served by mixologists including Julie Reiner, Audrey Saunders, and Dushan Zaric, was Tom Colicchio's performance with the band Milton.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | On Saturday, hundreds headed to west Chelsea for Sweet, an event for pastry chefs, wine producers, and liquor companies. Among the many participating sponsors inside La.venue and the Waterfront, Metromix's spot drew attention by providing a photo station where guests could don aprons and hats.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | Coffee psychic Jorianne offered on-site readings next to Target's coffee station.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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 | DJ Samantha Ronson spun tunes at Sweet as well as the Macy's-hosted Culinary Council Star party that followed at the Xchange.
Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash |
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Although security didn't seem to be an issue at these big parties—guests had to present tickets at check-in, exchanging them for color-coded bracelets labeled with the name of each event—block-long lines provoked many a response from attendees. However, incredulous remarks like "Where does this line end?" subsided as the queues moved swiftly and almost completely dissipated within 30 minutes.
The festival sold approximately 21,000 tickets, and the producers are still estimating the amount of funds raised for the two charities.
—Anna Sekula
RELATED TOPICS
New York City Wine & Food Festival, Southern Wine & Spirits, Food Network, Food & Wine Magazine, Travel & Leisure magazine, Share Our Strength, Food Bank of New York, MGM Grand at Foxwoods, DailyCandy, Ferrero, Perrier, Absolut, Target
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