Gluttony and athleticism rarely go hand in hand, but the partnership seems to work for the annual Taste of Tennis party held on the eve of each US Open. For the 2008 incarnation, held August 21 at the Midtown East W Hotel, the culinary event benefiting the Food Bank of New York City partnered with title sponsor BNP Paribas to give 400 guests a chance to sample foods from restaurants like the Waverly Inn and South Gate.
Tickets cost $350, but that bought a bottomless plate to an all-you-can-eat buffet promising significantly fancier fare than a trip to Ponderosa. More than a dozen restaurants and chefs showed off their signature dishes in the hotel’s Forest Ballroom, and the meals in highest demand seemed to be Peter Howard’s Australian lamb chop over ratatouille, the Waverly Inn’s miniature chicken pot pies, and the New York strip with wasabi ponzu from Japonais.
A surplus of high-end food is the norm at Taste of Tennis. But new this year was a focus on bringing the party to the attention of the media. Though it previously went under the lens of Food Network event series Behind the Bash, Taste of Tennis had never even had a red carpet until this year. Event producers at AYS Sports Marketing chose to capitalize on the public interest in guests like Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Tommy Haas with a green Astroturf carpet and heavily branded step-and-repeat. The event’s less famous guests snapped pictures at a photo booth by Mark Van S, which immediately fed to a slideshow in the main room.
Also new this year was an abundance of international sponsors. Economic concerns prompted AYS to look to Europe for title sponsor BNP Paribas, and producers sold out the other branded lounges to sponsors like Rums of Puerto Rico, the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Chambord and even domestic companies like Korbel and Buick.
At the end of the evening, as has become customary in recent years, tennis star Andy Roddick took the stage for a cooking demonstration he seemed to lose interest in after getting a mojito from Food Network chef Ingrid Hoffman. The full house meant that not all guests could squeeze into the main hall, but flat-screen televisions set up in all the adjoining suites meant that everyone caught a glimpse of Roddick fumbling over burners. His undercooked shrimp did not appear to make it to anyone’s plate.
