On Saturday evening, 600 guests (who shelled out $600 each for tickets) gathered at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel for Decoding Ferran Adrià : The Tribute Dinner. Adrià was named one of the 100 innovators of the 21st century by Time magazine, and his restaurant El Bulli, on the Catalan coast of Spain, receives 1 million reservation requests every year. Nine national and international chefs came together to create a seven-course dinner in his honor: José Andrés (of Jaleo, Washington), Thomas Keller (of French Laundry, California), Gray Kunz (of Café Gray, New York), Nobu Matsuhisa (of Nobu, worldwide), Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Pierre Hermé (of Pâtisserie Pierre Hermé, Paris). Emeril Lagasse and Norman Van Aken (of Norman's in Coral Gables) were in charge of hors d?oeuvres. Loews' executive chef Marc Ehrler also contributed and manned the culinary undertaking with the hotel's catering manager, Michael Darst. Susan Kleinberg of Susan Kleinberg Events worked on the logistics of the event, plus the Sweet Deco-dence dessert after-party, held poolside.
During the champagne reception, Emeril and Van Aken whetted guests' appetites by offering barbecued shrimp with petite rosemary biscuit, crab cakes with a cilantro-avocado emulsion, and tortilla Española with caviar and crème fraiche. Models stood on lit boxes to show off Piaget jewelry (which drew as much attention as the hors d'oeuvres). Inside the ballroom, Karla Conceptual Event Experiences and Le Basque Catering & Productions had set the tables with silvery linens from Panache: An Event Rental Company and trios of glass vases in varying heights filled with colored gel. "We wanted the room to be clean and modern to reflect the honoree's style," Kleinberg said. Each table setting included a commemorative charger from Rosenthal China with the event's name and date, plus the name of each chef written along the edge; the chargers were taken out before the meal and boxed so guests could take them home.
Preparing the meal was an event in of itself. Each of the chefs brought along a team of assistants and also enlisted help from Florida International University's School of Hospitality. In all, 145 assistants worked on plating the dishes, prepared in the pastry kitchen adjacent to the ballroom. "It was a one-of-a-kind event because all the recipes were made for the first time for this dinner. All the ingredients and equipment had to be either bought in town or flown in to accommodate what each chef was preparing," Ehrler said. "We began working on the menu almost a year ago, and because of the extensive planning, we were able to serve each course in 15 minutes or less." Portions of the reception were curtained off, leaving guests oblivious to the frenzy behind them and in three adjoining pre-function rooms, where an assembly line of chefs worked on plates lined on rows of tables.
"The goal was to create a balance and progression of flavors and textures," Ehrler said. Dinner began with Caesar salad with sea urchin by Andrés, arranged to look more like spring rolls than a traditional salad. Matuhisa's dish of white fish sashimi with dried white miso, yuzu juice, and Spanish extra-virgin olive oil followed. Other highlights included Vongerichten's crunchy rabbit kanzurl with soybean purée and Ehrler's confit of beef tenderloin with armonia de mascarpone and gorgonzola truffle opera.
—Vanessa Goyanes
Read more coverage of the 2006 South Beach Wine & Food Festival...
During the champagne reception, Emeril and Van Aken whetted guests' appetites by offering barbecued shrimp with petite rosemary biscuit, crab cakes with a cilantro-avocado emulsion, and tortilla Española with caviar and crème fraiche. Models stood on lit boxes to show off Piaget jewelry (which drew as much attention as the hors d'oeuvres). Inside the ballroom, Karla Conceptual Event Experiences and Le Basque Catering & Productions had set the tables with silvery linens from Panache: An Event Rental Company and trios of glass vases in varying heights filled with colored gel. "We wanted the room to be clean and modern to reflect the honoree's style," Kleinberg said. Each table setting included a commemorative charger from Rosenthal China with the event's name and date, plus the name of each chef written along the edge; the chargers were taken out before the meal and boxed so guests could take them home.
Preparing the meal was an event in of itself. Each of the chefs brought along a team of assistants and also enlisted help from Florida International University's School of Hospitality. In all, 145 assistants worked on plating the dishes, prepared in the pastry kitchen adjacent to the ballroom. "It was a one-of-a-kind event because all the recipes were made for the first time for this dinner. All the ingredients and equipment had to be either bought in town or flown in to accommodate what each chef was preparing," Ehrler said. "We began working on the menu almost a year ago, and because of the extensive planning, we were able to serve each course in 15 minutes or less." Portions of the reception were curtained off, leaving guests oblivious to the frenzy behind them and in three adjoining pre-function rooms, where an assembly line of chefs worked on plates lined on rows of tables.
"The goal was to create a balance and progression of flavors and textures," Ehrler said. Dinner began with Caesar salad with sea urchin by Andrés, arranged to look more like spring rolls than a traditional salad. Matuhisa's dish of white fish sashimi with dried white miso, yuzu juice, and Spanish extra-virgin olive oil followed. Other highlights included Vongerichten's crunchy rabbit kanzurl with soybean purée and Ehrler's confit of beef tenderloin with armonia de mascarpone and gorgonzola truffle opera.
—Vanessa Goyanes
Read more coverage of the 2006 South Beach Wine & Food Festival...
For Decoding Ferran Adri?: The Tribute Dinner at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel, 600 guests enjoyed seven-courses prepared by local, national, and international chefs.
Spanish chef Jos? Andr?s takes time out from plating his version of Caesar salad to pose with his creation.
