Food, Wine & Bling at Aspen

By Cornichon on June 22, 2004 8:12 AM | 30 Comments

Faithful correspondent David Morgenstern reports from Colorado:

She looked to be all off 23 years old and maybe on the high side of 5'2". Thrilled to slide under the protection of our 15-minute old umbrella while in queue for The Grand Tasting at the 2004 Food & Wine Aspen Classic, she was quick to tell us she was a personal chef in Aspen. The raindrops bouncing off the red & black nylon overhead wouldn't deter her excitement to quaff as many wines as possible in the next 90 minutes. Diana and I quickly noticed the six carat pear-shaped diamond ring on her left hand balanced by a rock of equal size on her right hand not to mention the 2 carat diamond earrings and multiple tennis bracelets. Personal chefs must make some good dough! In the course of four days of chef seminars, winery panel discussions and reserve wine tastings, we estimate we laid eyes on the sparkle of at least 1,000 total carats of colored diamonds. What a way to be so casual yet so chic.

Being our first Food & Wine Experience, we were educated and entertained by the best TV Chefs in the business; Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Jacques & Colleen Pépin, Alton Brown, Wolfgang Puck and Tyler Florence.

Mario was intense with his craft and was truly an educator. Bobby Flay was at ease with his session and encouraged any and all questions. Jacques was a true gentleman with a warm wit while teaching the class and his daughter Claudine, how her grand-mother used a simple fork to mince garlic. Claudine never got the hang of it.

The highlight of the weekend was the closing seminar aptly named the Grand Cook-off. Two chefs were presented with identical bags of groceries and given 20 minutes to conceive, cook and plate a three to four course meal using every item in the bag.

The first duo of chefs was Jacques Pépin versus his long time friend (and pastry chef while the two worked the kitchen of General Charles de Gaulle), Jean-Paul Naquin. Sissy Biggers, the MC, presented each chef with a bag containing identical ingredients: six eggs, clams, spinach, bread, purple potatoes, apricots and miso. Their French kitchenese and good natured ribbing was a hoot. Their 50 years of friendship was evident. The end product was a great presentation, but something I've not seen in any cookbook. Clams are clams, but Jean-Paul's presentation of sautéed apricots artfully placed on toasted baguettes interlaced with mint garnish was the audience favorite and he was rewarded with the majority of the votes as the best chef.

Round 2 pitted Tyler Florence versus a former Food & Wine New Chef of the Year whose name escapes me. This time the grocery bag was filled with fresh cherries, pasta, brussel sprouts, ground lamb, sea urchin, phyllo, lemons, tomatoes and fennel. Tyler quickly slipped into his smooth television persona and confidently detailed his prep, cook & plate while his counterpart slugged back Bloody Marys to ward off the previous evening?s party spirits - too bad he was too hung-over to even plate his finished product; raw sea urchin and boiled brussel sprouts over a bed of half-cooked pasta. Yuck. Tyler?s sea urchin cerviche, seared lamb patties with pasta, sautéed cherries on baked phyllo, and a simple bowl of boiled sprouts easily garnered a unanimous decision.

Andrea Immer and Steve Jenkins presented a great wine & cheese seminar while Bartholomew Broadbent, the soft-spoken gentlemen shadow of his father, did a wonderful job leading several reserve wine tastings aided by two verbose wine-merchants.

All in all a great weekend with only two draw-backs; the first being the Disney-like 45 minute queue for each seminar. The second? We don't have a "rich uncle" that can score Diana some bling for next year's Classic!

30 Comments

Ronald | June 22, 2004 8:24 AM

Thanks, David, for a splendid report and tantalizing pictures! And as for the rest of you readers: why not send in some dispatches and tasting notes of your own?

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