January 20, 2012
From filmmaker dinners at the Montage Deer Valley’s Supper Suite featuring Bravo’s Top Chef alum Marcel Vigneron and the hotel’s own executive chef Shawn Armstrong to the St. Regis’ Film Festival Wine Dinners at Jean-Georges’ J&G Grill to Hyatt Escala’s new $3.5 million restaurant, this year the festival is almost as much about the food as the film. Outside the theater, look out for Frank Langella, Liv Tyler, James Marsden and Peter Saarsgard at the Robot & Frank cocktail hors d’oeuvres reception on Saturday, catered by the Montage’s new Yama Sushi. Then hang out with Olympic medalist Shannon Bahrke at J&G before show time. We talked to two-star Michelin Chef Christopher Lee of Eden Miami and the Huntington
Social who will be cooking three different dinners for the Supper Club at the
Axe Hair Media Lounge, and Celeste Fierro and Liran Mezan of the One Group (STK) about the restaurant scene at this year’s festival.
Departures.com: What special events are you working on for Sundance and how did you come up with the menu?
Chris Lee: We are doing dinners for the cast of The Comedy as well as the Playboy Imaginative Filmmakers Spotlight Award. The menus were developed with seasonal ingredients and recipes that highlight my cooking style: combining seasonality with creativity, and inspired by abstract art.
Celeste Fierro: This year we're excited to have our new Corporate Chef Liran Mezan to spearhead the menu. STK comes to Sundance hosting private dinners for Black
Rock, For a Good Time Call and Lay the Favorite, among others.
Why is Sundance an important market for you, and how did you decide to do the pop-up?
Lee: As a chef, Sundance is full of creative, artistic people who I hope will appreciate that aspect of my food. I am happy to have the opportunity to cook for them. As a business owner, Sundance is one of the most prestigious film festivals that attracts people from all parts of the world. This kind of exposure is priceless.
What are you most looking forward to this year at Sundance? How does the atmosphere fit with your restaurant or image?
Lee: I am looking forward to doing the Showcase dinner on Sunday, it is always nice to be a part of a highly coveted event. There have been a lot of great chefs before me who have cooked for this, and I am happy to add my name to that roster. The atmosphere fits with my concepts very well. From what I have seen, the vibe of Sundance is very much glitz and glamour, but in an approachable way. You have movie stars and the red carpet, but everyone is running around in jeans and snow boots.
Fierro: The One Group, Gansevoort Hotel Group and Direct TV partnered to create a great space on Main Street, the center of the festival, hosting private dinners and a late night lounge. David Mast and Dwell magazine assisted in creating a space that was a combination of both TOG and GHG in a ski lodge setting.
Who would you most like to meet this year at Sundance?
Lee: I am still waiting to meet Mr. Redford. And since we are doing a dinner that is sponsored by Playboy, it would be awesome to meet Hef.
Liran Mezan: J.J. Abrams.
How would you describe the restaurant scene during the festival? How has it changed over the years?
Lee: The restaurant scene is going to be off the hook, full of people who know good food. It is really great that the festival flies in chefs to help celebrate these great accomplishments.
Mezan: There's a greater energy this year. You can already feel it on Main Street. Perhaps it’s an uptick in the economy, or the great films and filmmakers show. Whatever it is, we're excited.
Does the film lineup have any bearing on what you will create?
Lee: Well, I definitely took into consideration who will be in the dining room and tried to design a menu that will amuse, inspire, and impress. I didn’t have a particular film in mind, but I did think about the vibe of Sundance being relaxed and comfortable, and cold, so I went with braised short rib because it is a nice hearty winter dish.
Photo © Brandon Perlman
February 17, 2012
Courtesy Miami International Boat Show
Boat aficionados of every stripe—sailors, fishermen, yachtsmen alike—will drop anchor in Miami this weekend for the 71st annual Miami International Boat Show, one of the most prestigious gatherings worldwide. In a rare U.S. appearance, Jimmy Cornell, the accomplished Romanian yachtsman and author, will teach a hands-on lesson and share tales from his three circumnavigations of the globe—once with his wife and children in tow. Miami will host more than 3,000 boats at three locations, including the cutting-edge Beneteau Sense 55, with an innovative joystick-maneuvering system ($2.2 million), and the luxurious custom-wood-hulled Maccarini Navegentes, a 95-footer crafted in Brazil by local artisans ($2.5 million). The five-day pass, which includes admission to Thursday’s VIP Premiere Day, is $80; single-day tickets cost $18; February 16–20; miamiboatshow.com.
May 07, 2012
© Courtesy Jarlsberg & Wild Hibiscus Flower Company
The fascination with cocktails shows no signs of stopping, and the Manhattan Cocktail Classic, from May 11 to 15—a showcase of memorable libations, mixology talent, drinks lore and good times—aims to keep it that way. Tickets are still available for a host of interesting, and appropriately spirited, events held throughout Manhattan. Head to a rum-fueled celebration of Havana, Cuba, at Mother’s Ruin in Nolita, or embark on the Gentleman’s Cocktail Crawl (ladies are also more than welcome to attend)—a black-tie-optional bar crawl involving some of the borough’s finest hotel cocktail spots, like at Andaz Wall Street’s Bar Seven Five (75 Wall St.).
You can also enjoy getting to know boutique alcohol brands from around the world at the classic’s Indie Spirits Expo at Crimson (915 Broadway), which capitalizes on the popularity of all things artisanal. “Bar owners, mixologists and cocktail fans can taste and learn about these fine spirits and the dedicated and passionate individuals who work so hard to bring them to the marketplace,” says expo producer David Schmier. And if you’re in the mood for a real jolt, enjoy The Darkest Night: an evening of whisky punch and a performance of the surreal interactive play Sleep No More at the McKittrick Hotel (530 W. 27th St.). Bowmore will provide the single malt Scotch; Sleep No More will deliver more than a few chills—and not of the ice-cold-cocktail variety. May 11–15; manhattancocktailclassic.com.
May 10, 2012
Courtesy Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance
Paso Robles is one of California’s largest and most scenic wine regions, with 26,000 vineyard acres running up the Central Coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Once a year the area comes together to celebrate its 180 wineries and 40 varietals—from heritage Zinfandel to French Viognier. And this year promises to be especially festive as Paso Robles marks its 30th annual Wine Festival, from May 18 to 20. The weekend kicks off with a reserve event on Friday, where the region’s top wineries will showcase their reserves and futures, offering eager oenophiles the opportunity to bid on vintages while they’re still in the barrel.
The festivities continue Saturday with a tasting from 60 wineries in downtown Paso Robles, where holders of premium tickets ($75) can enter early to enjoy a more personal experience. Then there are the events—more than 150 of them in all—at the wineries themselves. Choose from cave tours, live music, a tri-tip barbecue at Eberle Winery (the 2011 Winery of the Year), a four-course, farm-fresh feast (with wine pairings, of course) in the garden at Harmony Cellars (3255 Harmony Valley Rd.; 805-927-1624; harmonycellars.com) and more. May 18–20; reserve admission, $125; vineyard events, ticketed separately; pasowine.com.
February 23, 2012
Barkow Liebinger Architects—work in progress. Photo by Alia Radman.
Morocco has always held a certain artistic allure: Matisse painted open-air portraits in Tangier; William Burroughs’s early novel Interzone was inspired by his time in Morocco; and Talitha Getty became the face of Marrakech during her reign as a ’60s style icon.
The fourth edition of the Marrakech Biennale continues this tradition. This year’s biennale, titled “Surrender,” will be the first major trilingual (English, Arabic and French) festival to highlight contemporary art, literature and film in North Africa and includes more than 60 participants from around the world. In addition to the myriad performances, screenings and talks taking place during the week, the festival celebrates the opening of its main visual-arts exhibition, “Higher Atlas” (on display through June 3). The show will feature site-specific commissions conceived and created on location by local craftspeople and manufacturers. Architect Carson Chan, cocurator of the exhibit, says the exhibition seeks to challenge the traditional methods of biennale-making. “Do we have to show art?” he asks. “Why not commission a novel, a symphony, an album or a prayer?” The Marrakech Biennale runs February 29–March 4; marrakechbiennale.org.
September 01, 2011
The third dimension. Courtesy of the Telluride Film Festival.
Telluride Film Festival: Now in its 38th year, the Colorado festival never reveals its lineup in advance. Still, it's worth the risk. Three film legends are honored with tributes every year, and the film selection is top-notch. Last year, the festival lifted the curtain on Oscar winner The King's Speech.
Chicago Jazz Festival: In its 33rd year, the festival will be spread throughout the city at Grant Park, Millennium Park and the Chicago Cultural Center. Orbert Davis is the artist in residence this year.
Los Angeles's The Taste: Food Network favorites Giada de Laurentiis and Duff Goldman are among the celebrity chefs anchoring L.A.'s unprecedented four-day food fest, in which nine tasting events will be held throughout Beverly Hills, Hollywood and downtown.
Atlanta's Sky High Hot Air Balloon Festival: Look up! Callaway Gardens hosts the 13th annual hot air balloon festival this weekend. Don't miss the balloon burners illuminating the sky during the "Balloon Glow" on Friday at dusk at Robin Lake Beach.
Blue Hill Fair: Get back to basics at the quintessential county fair in Blue Hill, Maine. From the tractor pull to the blueberry pie-eating contest to the Ferris wheel, it's down-home Americana.
What's on your culture radar? Here's what's on ours
