The Saturday night event for the South Beach Wine and Food Festival was an exercise in elegance and restraint. Over 650 members of the food and wine world gathered at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel to pay tribute to the famed New York restaurant Le Bernardin. The guests of honor were legendary chef Eric Ripert and Le Bernardin founder Maguy Le Coze.The evening was a veritable culinary odyssey as superstar chefs from around the world were called upon to collectively compose and execute a gourmet six-course meal, each course with its own wine pairing. The dinner was preceded by a Dom Perignon champagne reception where guests whetted their appetites with delectable hors d'oeuvres created by local celebrity chefs Norman Van Aken and Loews executive chef Marc Ehrler. Chef Van Aken's offerings included gourmet open-faced mini-BLTs and conch ceviche with coconut-infused cream, while chef Ehrler contributed bites of arctic char salmon topped with shaved cucumber and scallion foam. His spicy Maine lobster temari sushi with a lychee wine pipette, topped with gold-dusted wasabi gelee, was quite a showstopper. During the reception, guests had a chance to mingle with gastronomic glitterati including Martha Stewart and Dylan Lauren, as well as Food Network personality chef Anthony Bourdain.
According to South Beach Wine and Food Festival director Lee Schrager, the dinner was a collaborative effort between the guest of honor and the chefs. "Eric was involved in helping us choose the chefs," said Schrager. "He hand-picked everybody. He wanted people who were important in his life and career. The chefs each came up with their own dishes. The menu came together so easily and everyone was happy with the outcome."
As guests filed into the main ballroom, they were greeted by a giant screen situated on stage at the front of the room, displaying black-and-white photographs of the guests of honor. The screen was later used during the event to show a short film where celebrities including David Letterman, Dan Rather, and Emeril Lagasse toasted the guests of honor.
The place settings bore the tale of the meal to come: a total of six Riedel wine glasses graced each place setting along with enough silverware to accommodate each course. The centerpieces were sophisticated and delicate, composed of hollowed-out artichokes functioning as votive candle holders, and a small mossy orb of stephanotis flowers resting on a bed of grey pebbles. Each table was graced with bottles of olive oil from Andalusia, Spain, in lieu of traditional butter, for dipping artisinal bread.
Though chef Ripert and Ms. Le Coze were the evening's honorees, one could argue that the food was a star of the evening as well. The menu began with a course of mallard duck ballotine with Buddha hand confit, courtesy of French chef Daniel Boulud. That was followed by prawns wrapped in crunchy rice noodles and sweet corn by chef Elena Arzak of the award-winning Restaurant Arzak in Spain. Tony Esnault of Alain Ducasse's New York restaurant provided the third course in the form of foie gras and tapioca ravioli with celery and sunchoke broth and black truffles. Guests then had to make room for New York-based chef Laurent Gras' black bass with pasilla de Oaxaca, and then Marc Ehrler's slow cooked Kobe cheeks with black trumpet mushrooms.
The sixth and final course was a chocolate cashew tart accompanied by caramelized banana and malted milk chocolate ice cream, courtesy of Michael Laiskonis of Le Bernardin in New York. Each course was accompanied by wine carefully selected from the Southern Wine and Spirits of America portfolio by the chefs themselves. After dinner, guests were invited to the terrace to enjoy Macanudo handcrafted cigars and Jacques Cardin cognac.
In addition to being a gourmet's dream, the dinner helped the South Beach Wine and Food Festival raise a record $1 million this year to aid education programs at Florida International University.
And two luminaries of the restaurant world were given their due. "The evening went off flawlessly and Eric and Maguy seemed very touched," said Schrager. "They couldn't have been more gracious to be recognized by a festival such as ours and in a room of their peers."
—Sara Liss
Photos: Avery Pack
Table centerpieces consisted of delicate flowers and moss nestled on grey pebbles.
In the grand ballroom, guests were greeted by a large screen showing black-and-white photographs of the evening's guests of honor.
Six Riedel wine glasses, one for each course and its wine pairing, graced each place setting.
Hollowed-out artichokes functioned as whimsical votive candle holders.
Conch ceviche with coconut-infused cream was one of several cocktail appetizers.
Gourmet mini-BLTs by chef Norman Van Aken.
Chef Norman Van Aken plates mini-BLTs for the cocktail reception at the Loews.
Spicy Maine lobster temari sushi with a lychee wine pipette, topped with gold-dusted wasabi gelee, by chef Marc Ehrler wowed the crowd.
