Local fans of Bravo's culinary competition Top Chef seem eager for the show to finally land in New York next month, so on Monday afternoon Bravo and NYC & Company kicked off the season a few weeks early. Paying tribute to the city with a modestly priced edible tour through a miniaturized New York in Grand Central Station's Vanderbilt Hall, “Taste of the Five Boroughs” let foodies spend their lunch hour meeting the show’s cast and sampling meals from local eateries like Craft, Buddakan, and Perilla.
Even in these tight-pocketed times, New York’s most expensive cuisine is never entirely out of reach. Each $30 ticket bought mini-meals from the 20 participating restaurants, and all proceeds went to New York’s City Harvest. The event, under the direction of Bravo director of digital marketing and events Valerie Brown and NYC & Company, capitalized on the critical mass of buzz the new season has in New York.
Production of Top Chef: New York, frequently shooting in locations like Brooklyn's McCarran Park and the Whole Foods on Bowery, already earned months of free publicity from loyal bloggers at sites like Eater, who regularly reported sightings, speculated eliminations, and posted grainy photos. As for non-gratis promotions, Taste of the Five Boroughs was just one element of Bravo’s continued experiential marketing plan for the series. A nationwide tour that brought past contestants and cooking demonstrations in a souped up kitchen on wheels finished its 20-city journey in Union Square just last week.
Food, while in no short supply, was only for guests forking out the ticket price, but the meal wasn’t the only program offered during the three-hour event. Vanderbilt Hall’s east side held a Top Chef stage where demonstrations from culinary personalities like New York magazine culinary editor Gillian Duffy schooled passersby on how to stock a small New York kitchen with only the necessities.
It wasn’t all fun and educational though. Past Top Chef contestant and current Le Cirque staffer Andrew D'Ambrosi took the stage for a demonstration of his knife skills and mistook his finger for a piece of fruit. He left the stage with an EMT but is reported to have survived.
