NYC City Treasures: Meeting Martha Stewart

Not so long ago, a friend of mine was moping about and I asked what was wrong. She said, "I'm so bored."

I immediately blurted out, "If you live in New York City and you're bored, it's your own fault."

The reason that people flock to New York is that there is an endless list of things that need to be seen, heard, celebrated, tasted, digested, smelled, tried on, gawked at, touched, felt, dreamed of and recycled.

There are a few venues around town where, no matter the day of the week or time of year, something of interest is there for the discovery. So if you find yourself saying, "I'm so bored," check them out.

For the musicians & wordsmiths, there is Cornelia Street Café. For oenophiles and food enthusiasts, there is Astor Center.

Long a Village fixture (like Cornelia Street Cafe), Astor Wines embarked on a new path and created the Astor Center, a green building designed to care for the wines in stock and to provide event spaces for food & wine events aimed at education. There are meeting & tasting rooms, a kitchen and a grand gallery for larger events.

But it's not just about wine. It's about taste – new foods, spirits, beverages, wines, cheeses. It's also about the Collective, those people who work in the food & beverage industry and who care deeply about what they do. This is a space aimed at their needs. It's not a big fancy bank turned into a ballroom & booked for galas and weddings. It is much more sophisticated than that. It is one part village renegade, one part culinary institute, one part thriving business.

Recently, I was honored to attend the NYC Women in Food event, a networking opportunity for women in the in the industry. The keynote speaker was Martha Stewart, once on the cutting edge of farm forward foods and home entertaining. Regardless of ones opinion of Ms. Stewart, there is no doubting the fact that she is a successful business woman and that she has opened doors for the new waves of women in the food & beverage world. One thing that she said sticks in my mind: No matter what we do in life, we must be passionate about it.

The Astor Center is indeed a space that encourages a passionate approach to Food & Beverage. Read more about it here. Check out their weekly calendar and discover what your passion is.

Tags:   astor center, cornelia street cafe, food and beverage, martha stewart, wine

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Posted on 1/28/2009 ( Permanent Link )
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