Vinexpo Executives Reveal IWSR Study’s Results

On January 17th Vinexpo executives announced in New York city the launch of its 17th edition, to be held June 16-20, 2013, in Bordeaux, France. As the world’s largest international wine and spirits exhibition, held every two years in France, Chief Executive Robert Beynat and Chairman Xavier de Eizaguirre also released the results of the latest study of the World Wine and Spirits market to some 100 journalists and trade VIP’s.

Xavier de Eizaguirre
Chairman Vinexpo

Robert Beynat
Chief Executive
Vinexpo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights of the study relating to wine usage in the United States included:

In 2011, the U.S. became the leading wine consuming nation in volume and value in the world, ahead of France and Italy.

The U.S. is the leading consumer market in the world for wines priced at more than $10 per bottle.

The U.S. is the third largest wine importer worldwide, including both still, light and sparkling wines.

The U.S. is the fourth largest wine producer in the world.

The U.S. is the 6th largest exporter of wine in the world in volume and value.

Vinexpo will take place from June 16-20, 2013
at the Bordeaux Exhibition Centre in France.
For further details, see www.vinexpo.com

For more information:

Sopexa USA
Marie Christina Batich – PR Manager
Tel: 212.386.7416 Marie-Christina.Batich@sopexa.com

Selena Ricks Hosts The Third Annual Holiday Spirits Bazaar

New Yorkers were treated to the ultimate festive cocktail experience at the Third Annual Holiday Spirits Bazaar, on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at Astor Center.

Selena Ricks with one of the fabulous mixologists at the Third Annual Holiday Spirits Bazaar

One of the Great Bartenders at the Third Annual Holiday Spirits Bazaar

New Yorkers were treated to the ultimate festive cocktail experience at the Third Annual Holiday Spirits Bazaar, on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at Astor Center.

Fab Food Finds at the Taste of Queens 2012

Taste of Queens 2012

Article and photography by Kristen Hess, Author of The Artful Gourmet

On May 1st I attended the annual Taste of Queens – a massive, lively food-filled event celebrating the food and restaurants all over Queens, NY. It was well fit to be hosted in the top level, window-filled Caesar’s Club at Citi Field (home of the Mets!), as there were over 47 restaurants and food vendors from Queens proudly displaying their tasty creations and cocktails.

I attended the event with David Hillman of eDiningNews.com to capture all the food, fun, people and highlights, so keep reading to see great photos and a fun video of the fab food finds we discovered there! There was also a taste competition as judged by a team of local foodies and media types, here are the winners:

Pop Diner

Magna Ristorante

Magna Ristorante of Flushing (above) won the Best Entrée award for its Penne alla Siciliana, which featured sautéed eggplant and long, tubular pasta in a marinara-style sauce,

Magna Italian Dishes

and Pollo alla Romana, which included lightly sautéed chicken breast and specially prepared artichokes in a tomato-and-cream sauce.

Papazzio Restaurant

Bayside’s Papazzio Restaurant & Caterer (above) won the Best Appetizer award for its Pasta e Fagioli, which consisted of various kinds of red and white beans in a creamy, savory broth with onions, carrots, celery, rosemary, prosciutto and noodles. According to Papazzio’s Dominick Bruccoleri this soup also contains “a lot of love.”

Tropisec

In the Best Dessert category, the judges chose Tropisec (above), a Long Island City-based company that creates flowers and other edible designs from dried tropical fruits such as mango, papaya and pineapple. One of founder Blanca Lilia Narváez‘s signature products consists of dried banana pieces mixed with unprocessed cocoa.

McClure’s Bloody Mary Mix

Best Alcoholic Beverage: McClure’s Pickles for their Bloody Mary Mix

See the full list of Queens restaurants and food vendors that participated in the event.

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Highlights from the Taste of Queens event ::

SEE THE PHOTO GALLERY/SLIDESHOW

WATCH THE VIDEO ::

See more videos and press coverage on the event:

NY 1 video

Queens Buzz post

Queens Examiner post

DNA Info post

World Journal article in Chinese

The Forum photos

Epoch Times article in Chinese

Sustainable Pantry blog

A Taste of 5th

The Grand Prospect Hall – Brooklyn, NY

A great time was had by all gourmet foodies in Brooklyn on Wednesday evening April 18th at A Taste of 5th at the Grand Prospect Hall.

The evening was sponsored by the Park Slope Fifth Avenue BID and featured a sampling of signature dishes from some of the top 5th Avenue restaurants.

Just a few of the participating restaurants included:

Baluchi’s Park Slope, The Beauty Bar, Yayo’s Latin Cuisine, Fornino, Backyard, 200 Fifth, Mel and Sal Prime Meats,Stone Park Cafe,  al di la, and Sweet Treasure’s Bakery.

Baluchi’s Park Slope – 310 5th Avenue

Bagel World

The Beauty Bar – 249 5th Avenue – Brooklyn, NY

Benchmark – 339A 2nd Street – Brooklyn, NY

Stone Park Cafe – 324 5th Avenue – Brooklyn, NY

Yayo’s Latin Cuisine – 36 5th Avenue – Brooklyn, NY

Influx of Celebrity Chefs makes Miami and Miami Beach a new Foodie Haven

Miami Beach – Tudor House Dining Room

From delis and dives a decade ago to five-star restaurants today, who would have thought Miami and Miami Beach would become such sophisticated bastions of gastronomic delights?

Geoffrey Zakarian’s Tudor House restaurant at the Dream Hotel just one of several new eateries headed by celebrity chefs, now making Miami and Miami Beach top food destinations in the U.S.

When superstar “Iron Chef” Geoffrey Zakarian recently opened his Tudor House restaurant at the Dream Hotel, his timing couldn’t have been more spot on. That’s because he’s landed in the middle of a culinary cauldron, a tornado of executive chefs who are considered to be at the top of their field and who have chosen to “steak” their places in Miami and Miami Beach.  It’s part of  the trend and growth of “serious” restaurants in South Florida run by world renown chefs and is indicative of how quickly our cities have propelled themselves to the top of great Foodie cities.

“The culinary landscape of Miami Beach has drastically evolved just in the last five years,” says Jeff Lehman, Chair, Miami Beach Visitor and Convention Authority (MBVCA). “The sophistication of our newest restaurants, the A-list group of chefs that want to expand their franchises here and the expectation of excellence that’s now a part of the eating experience on Miami Beach says everything about the evolution of the city into a first class, luxury destination of choice for travelers.”

The Food Network is filming “Next Food Network Star” in Miami; and in addition to Zakarian’s Tudor House, Laurent Tourondel holds court at BLT Steak at the Betsy Hotel;  Scott Conant oversees Scarpetta at the Fontainebleau; Andrew Carmellni runs the second outlet of his award-winning restaurant The Dutch at the W; Jeff McInnis just opened Yardbird restaurant;  Paula DeSilva is breaking new ground at 1500 Degrees at the Eden Roc; Daniel Boulud’s Bistro Moderne continues to wow in downtown Miami; in Bal Harbor and Jean-George Vongerichten has just opened the J&G Grill at the St. Regis hotel. In addition, Michelle Bernstein, Michael Schwartz and Douglas Rodriguez, the old guard, continue to reign supreme.

And from Shake Shack to Serendipity 3, significant New York restaurants are opening outlets here because they know South Florida has become the destination on the culinary food map and is growing year on year.

“I love it here,” says Laurent Tourondel, Executive Chef, BLT Steak. “It was important for us to open BLT at the Betsy Hotel to take advantage of the city’s trendy clientele and laid back style. There’s something a little different about South Florida. We’re a little surprised but very happy at how extremely successful BLT has been here.”

The newest and most exciting cities for a brilliant gastronomic holiday? Miami and Miami Beach, Florida.

From Roof to Table: Garden Inspired Creations at The SoHo Grand

Local, fresh, sustainable cooking have been the buzzwords in New York’s restaurant scene and around the country lately, but Chef Richard Farnabe, the newly appointed Executive Chef for GrandLife hotels (SoHo and Tribeca Grand), has taken this concept to a whole new level. Farnabe is bringing farm-fresh closer than ever by growing a garden in his own backyard—on the rooftop of the 17-story SoHo Grand.

Classically trained in France at Ecole Hoteliere Beliard Paris under Jacques Maximin, Chef Farnabe launched his culinary career at Le Theatre in Nice and then at Le Diamont Rose on the Cote d’Azur. Soon after, he followed his dream and moved to New York City working his way up from Sous Chef at Daniel and then Jean Georges, into notable positions as Chef de Cuisine at Soho’s Mercer Kitchen, Personal Chef for Tommy Hilfiger, and then moving on to several Executive Chef positions at Montrachet, Picholine and Cavo. He is now the Executive Chef at both Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand, tweaking the original menus with fresh, artistic creations of New American cuisine with French influences.

Chef Farnabe has been gardening for quite a long time, but he only recently combined gardening and cooking to produce the fresh, sustainable cooking at the GrandLife hotels. He decided to start the rooftop garden because the hotel had been cooking with a lot of micro-greens in the kitchen, and by growing their own herbs and vegetables, the kitchen could both cut costs and keep the ingredients fresh, local and sustainable.

The 3-month old garden covers the entire rooftop of the hotel, which has an amazing view of the New York skyline. In the garden and a connected greenhouse, there is a wide variety of tomatoes (16 cultivars of heirlooms) and vegetables like avocado, carrots, onions, French beans, jalapenos, habeneros, bok choy, broccoli, cucumber, asparagus, butternut squash, pumpkin, red beets, eggplant, mesclun, arugula, romaine, zucchini flower and peppers. There is also a variety of fresh grown herbs such as mint, basil, sage, chive, cilantro and parsley.

Chef Farnabe visits the rooftop daily to handpick fresh items for the restaurant’s menu and the specials of the day for all the hotels’ restaurants including the Grand Bar and Lounge and The Club Room at Soho Grand and Church Lounge and The Salon at Tribeca Grand. His creations have included delicious appetizers like Tuna Tartare, Lump Crab Cakes and Grilled Octopus Salad. Entrees are enticing, organic and cooked to perfection with classic items such as Roasted Salmon, Wild Mushroom Risotto, Grilled Lamb Chops and Steaks. Vegetable sides are freshly cooked from the rooftop garden

The hotel’s outdoor patio bar and restaurant, The Yard, is a casual relaxing place in a sandstone courtyard. Here, imbibers will find signature cocktails created with fresh herbs and veggies such as the Strawberry Smash made with Bulldog gin, fresh basil, sugar and fresh strawberries or the Spa, made with Hendrick’s gin, fresh cucumber puree, fresh lime and fresh mint. One can also enjoy fresh summer fare including appetizers and salads, seafood from the raw bar, BBQ shrimp, ribs and pork, as well as a variety of grilled sliders and lobster rolls.

I sampled some of Chef Farnabe’s dishes that were made with fresh garden produce. An arugula salad with toasted almonds, preserved lemon and shaved parmesan, tuna tartare with avocado and potato gaufrette, and a gorgeous zucchini flower, lightly tempura battered, stuffed with goat cheese and freshly cut herbs from the garden – the epitome of fresh, local, sustainable food, all right here from a rooftop garden in New York City.

Visit online: www.grandlifenyc.com

SOHO Grand: 310 W Broadway, NYC 10013 | 212.965.3588

Tribeca Grand: 2 Avenue of the Americas, NYC 10013 | 212.519.6664

—By Kristen Hess, The Artful Gourmet