Dressed in black tie, nearly 100 guests attended the James Beard Foundation's Taste America event at Azul restaurant inside the Mandarin Oriental Miami. Participating in the two-day national event, which began on September 28, Miami joined 19 other U.S. cities—including New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Houston—to raise money for the Daily Bread Food Bank, celebrate the culinary vision of James Beard, and honor his organization's 20th anniversary.
"James Beard became famous for his love of regional cuisines, so 20 American cities will be honoring him by creating 20 different menus reflective of our country's varying landscapes," explained Norman Van Aken, owner of Tavern N Town at Beachside Resort and Norman's Orlando, and one of only two James Beard Award-winning chefs in the kitchen for this event.The cocktail party and dinner that defined day one kicked off with dimmed lights and passed hors d'oeuvres, created by Aken, in the Azul lobby. Miss Betty's conch salad with passion fruit vinaigrette and yucca-stuffed crispy Key West shrimp with scotch bonnet tartar and classic mojo were among the delicacies available. As guests sipped their pink specialty cocktails, provided by Plymouth Gin, and mingled, Mandarin Oriental's Billboard Award-winning harpist Roberto Perera added an elegant musical background to the cocktail hour.
Inside the Azul dining room, guests were treated to a culinary feast while enjoying the views of Biscayne Bay. Five different chefs from top Miami restaurants each prepared one of the meal's five courses. Michael Bloise of Wish restaurant started things off with a poached rock shrimp with saffron crème fraîche gazpacho terrine and crispy yucca. For the next course, Cindy Hutson of Ortanique on the Mile served jerk-rubbed Sonoma foie gras over a warm salad of mâche, crisp potatoes, and duck confit with burnt orange marmalade and a Grand Marnier drizzle. James Beard Award winner Mark Militello, from MARK'S restaurant, mixed a crispy-skinned wild striped bass with a Swiss chard panade and a hint of saffron for the third course. Wrapping up the main meal was host chef Clay Conley. His creation of seared Japanese beef, potato-wrapped short rib, beet and balsamic braise, black truffle, and garlic spinach proved he is a star on the rise. Pastry chef Malka Espinel, of Johnny V, rounded out the evening with the open face sandwich, a dessert that combines pistachio biscuit, gooseberry compote, feta gelato, elderflower Madeleine, and buckwheat honey. These were distributed along with the petit fours, pina colada marshmallow kebabs.
"James Beard became famous for his love of regional cuisines, so 20 American cities will be honoring him by creating 20 different menus reflective of our country's varying landscapes," explained Norman Van Aken, owner of Tavern N Town at Beachside Resort and Norman's Orlando, and one of only two James Beard Award-winning chefs in the kitchen for this event.The cocktail party and dinner that defined day one kicked off with dimmed lights and passed hors d'oeuvres, created by Aken, in the Azul lobby. Miss Betty's conch salad with passion fruit vinaigrette and yucca-stuffed crispy Key West shrimp with scotch bonnet tartar and classic mojo were among the delicacies available. As guests sipped their pink specialty cocktails, provided by Plymouth Gin, and mingled, Mandarin Oriental's Billboard Award-winning harpist Roberto Perera added an elegant musical background to the cocktail hour.
Inside the Azul dining room, guests were treated to a culinary feast while enjoying the views of Biscayne Bay. Five different chefs from top Miami restaurants each prepared one of the meal's five courses. Michael Bloise of Wish restaurant started things off with a poached rock shrimp with saffron crème fraîche gazpacho terrine and crispy yucca. For the next course, Cindy Hutson of Ortanique on the Mile served jerk-rubbed Sonoma foie gras over a warm salad of mâche, crisp potatoes, and duck confit with burnt orange marmalade and a Grand Marnier drizzle. James Beard Award winner Mark Militello, from MARK'S restaurant, mixed a crispy-skinned wild striped bass with a Swiss chard panade and a hint of saffron for the third course. Wrapping up the main meal was host chef Clay Conley. His creation of seared Japanese beef, potato-wrapped short rib, beet and balsamic braise, black truffle, and garlic spinach proved he is a star on the rise. Pastry chef Malka Espinel, of Johnny V, rounded out the evening with the open face sandwich, a dessert that combines pistachio biscuit, gooseberry compote, feta gelato, elderflower Madeleine, and buckwheat honey. These were distributed along with the petit fours, pina colada marshmallow kebabs.
Ortanique chefs Eric Scott and Cindy Hutson took a break from cooking to pose with Azul chef Clay Conley.
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Azul's decor featured a luxurious look composed of white table linens, tan suede chairs, dimmed lighting, and beautiful views of Biscayne Bay.
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Ortanique chefs Eric Scott and Cindy Hutson took a break from cooking to pose with Azul chef Clay Conley.
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Right outside the restaurant entrance, an oversize black laminated poster featured postal stamps of Taste America's 20 participating cities.
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James Beard Award-winning chef Norman Van Aken prepared the hors d'oeuvres served during the cocktail hour.
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Hamachi tiradito, conch salad, and stuffed crispy shrimp were passed as guests mingled during the cocktail hour.
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Plymouth Gin, who also supplied the pink specialty cocktails, topped an amber- and tortoiseshell-colored mosaic tile bar in the restaurant's lobby with three blue-lit Plymouth bottles.
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Top Miami chefs gathered together inside the Azul kitchen to create an extravagant five-course meal.
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