Oh, yes, folks, the party approaches—so you better get your little black dress back from the cleaners. To quote one of my favorite chefs, this ain’t gonna be a “Port-O-San in the Parking Lot” affair.
Westchester Magazine’s Wine & Food Weekend at the Ritz-Carlton, Westchester promises to be a seriously swank three-day event, full of actual celeb chefs and (yes, really) fine wines. In contrast to similar events, our ticketing is limited—all to ensure shorter lines at the food and wine tables and at the Ritz-Carlton’s luxe bathrooms (with actual running water—we swear).
Events on schedule include two days of Grand Tasting in the Ritz-Carlton’s Grand Ballroom—which, for the greedy (and you know who you are), means four hours per day of access to incredible foods and wines. Attendees will be sampling vintages from scores of wine tables (stay tuned: more on this later) while munching specially designed bites from some of our region’s hottest restaurants. Look for samples from
X2O, Birdsall House, 42 the Restaurant, Sushi Mike’s, Moderne Barn, Serafina, Harvest on Hudson, Farmhouse at Bedford Post, and Crabtree’s Kittle House, to name a few. Folks, there will be 50 restaurants participating throughout the weekend. I’m just gonna throw a word out here: Bacchanalia (and did I mention the bathrooms?)
Throughout the Grand Tasting, there will be cooking demonstrations by
Chef Alex Grunert (of Blue Hill at Stone Barns),
Chef Peter X. Kelly (of X2O and the Xaviars Restaurant Group),
Chef Eric Gabrynowicz (of Restaurant North),
Chef Phil McGrath (of Iron Horse Grill), and
Chef David DiBari (of the Cookery). Also, look for wine seminars taught by the esteemed oenologists
Kevin Zraly and
Ned Towle, perfect for educating your palate while hitting the tasting floor.
Riedel Crystal will also be informing on the contentious question of wine glass shapes. Admission to their seminar, “Shape Matters When it Comes to Wine,” includes a complimentary set of Riedel glasses, valued at $116. Holy Goodie Bag!
Any
Top Chef fans? (And don’t even lie—you know that you watch it.) My all-time favorite cheftestant,
Dale Talde—the one who told the entire Judges Table to go eff itself, the one with the great Fabio impression (ch, ch, just for you!),
the one over whom even Anthony Bourdain wept!—will be engaged in a head-to-head Cook Off with another Top Cheftestant,
Ash Fulk.
But the kicker is the most exclusive of the weekend’s events, Saturday night’s Winemaker’s Dinner overseen by Honorary Chairman Chef Peter Kelly. We’re talking 12 passed hors d’oeuvres from
Chef James Dangler of the Ritz-Carlton, Westchester (served with still more wines), followed by a serious, five-course, seated dinner with dishes from Chef Kelly,
Chef Ethan Kostbar (of Moderne Barn),
Chef Marc Lippman (Crabtree’s Kittle House),
Anthony Goncalves (of 42 the Restaurant), and Chef Dangler. Kevin Zraly will pair wines for each chef’s courses, and, during the dinner,
Zraly and John Crabtree (of Crabtree’s Kittle House) will be honored for their contributions to wine and food with a Golden Apple Award.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m clearing that entire weekend for this hoedown. You’ll see me there: I’ll be the one in a raccoon coat holding a fig leaf.
