| TED KRUCKEL 10.06.09 4:59 PM |
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As Gourmet Bites the Dust, October Is Food Month in New York
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 | Jacques Pépin at New York magazine's Culinary Experience
Photo: Larry Busacca |
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FROM NEW YORK
It’s getting hot in here and the pressure is mounting. I’m in the kitchen with Jacques Pépin and about 20 students who are racing against the clock to complete their stuffed ballotines of chicken. Pépin is perspiring and working furiously as he goes from one student to the next, showing each the main steps that he demonstrated twice onscreen already.
It is 4:15 on a Saturday afternoon at the French Culinary Institute, and I’m sitting in on a New York magazine-sponsored deluxe weekend of instructional cooking, the New York Culinary Experience, with some of the world’s leading chefs. In addition to Monsieur Pépin, fellow F.C.I. deans André Soltner (formerly of Lutèce) and Alain Sailhac (formerly of the 21 Club) are sauntering around the room, assisted by six sous chefs, by my count. In two days, the announcement that Gourmet is closing will shock this community, but today we are all blissfully enjoying Food Month.
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RELATED TOPICS
New York Magazine, Gourmet magazine, Bon Appétit, French Culinary Institute |
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| EVENT REPORT 05.21.09 2:30 PM |
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Bon Appetit Unites Top Chefs With Foodies for Four-Day Vegas Uncork'd Fest
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 | The crowd at Bon Appetit's Vegas Uncork'd
Photo: Courtesy of R & R Partners |
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FROM LAS VEGAS
Sin City has long been divorced from its former reputation as the home of the $0.99 bargain buffet. Underscoring the city's newer reputation as a home for restaurants from world-class chefs is Uncork'd, a partnership between Bon Appetit, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Southern Nevada Wine & Spirits, and a group of top Las Vegas resorts, including Bellagio, Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, and Wynn. This year's program—which took over town from May 7 to 10—spanned four days and included more than 25 events featuring big-name chefs. Daniel Boulud, Tom Colicchio, Todd English, Bobby Flay, Rick Moonen, Alex Stratta, and Bon Appetit’s Cat Cora and Barbara Fairchild were among the participants in the event, which saw a higher attendance among repeat visitors—a goal of its organizers.
This was the first year that Bon Appetit and the visitors authority brought in a third party to assist, New York-based Karlitz & Company. Caryl Chinn, vice president of culinary marketing at Karlitz, worked on the logistics of creating the large-scale event with a host of different planners in different cities. “What is unique to Uncork'd is the hotels' participation,” said Chinn, noting that the properties typically host massive, complicated events and are consequently experienced clients. “They challenged us all to put our best foot forward.”
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RELATED TOPICS
Bon Appétit |
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