For those of you who know how I feel about the childhood obesity epidemic in this country, here is an event that benefits programs aimed at reaching out to students in
low-income areas. It happens to be a darn tasty event, too! See below for the menu & the wine pairings – some awesome fare! David Burke, Michael White, Laurent Tourondel, Shea Gallante, Terrance Brennan and PichetOng are cooking.

This also a great chance for foodies to join an organization that focuses on great food while at the same time giving back to the community.

NEW
YORK CHAPTER OF

THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF WINE & FOOD HOLDS IT’S

ANNUAL CHAMPAGNE GALA BENEFIT

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF THE AIWF!

The New York Chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food will hold its annual Champagne Galaat the New York Helmsley on Monday, June 5, 2006 .A champagne reception will begin the festivities, which features both a live and silent auction.   Following the reception will be an elegant five-course dinner showcasing six of New York's star chefs:David Burke of David Burke and Donatella, Terrance Brennan of Artisanal Premium Cheese, Shea Gallante of Cru, PichetOng of P*ONG,Laurent Tourondel of BLT Fish/ BLT Steak/BLT Prime and Michael White of Fiamma Osteria . Some of the world renowned champagne producers highlighted in the evening will include Veuve Clicquot, Dom Perignon and Krug!

This year as we celebrate the AIWF’s 25^th anniversary we are pleased to announce Sara Moulton, Executive Chef of Gourmet Magazine, as our Honorary Chair.Auctioneerand master of ceremoniesMichael Green, Wine Consultant for Gourmet Magazine, will raise the gavel at the live auction where rare wines, international travel adventures and unique memorabilia will be offered. Our silent auction will include a dazzling array of culinary merchandise, dining experiences and collectable bottles of wines, beers and spirits.

The proceeds from the Champagne Gala fund our signature children’s educational program, Days of Tasteâ – a four-week discovery-based program for fourth and fifth grade New York City Public School students to learn about food and how it weaves its way through daily life from farm to table. In addition to raising funds for Days of Taste®, proceeds from the gala will fund AIWF’sEndowed Scholarships including the André and Simone Soltner Food Education Scholarship; the
Michael Jackson Beer Education Scholarship;the Ray Wellington Wine Education Scholarship; The French Culinary Institute Scholarship; The Institute of Culinary Education Scholarship and AIWF ’sScholars Internship Program.

The Champagne Gala is made possible by our generous sponsors: 
Chapter Sponsor - Continental Airlines, Gold
Sponsor- Moet Hennessey USA, Professional Series Sponsor - Famiglia DeBartolo, Event Sponsors - Dallis Coffee, Fresh Direct, New York Helmsley Hotel and Tom Cat Bakery.

We anticipate another sold-out event with two hundred high profile food & wine enthusiasts, hospitality professionals, corporate sponsors and Days of Taste Ò supporters.

Tickets: 

$250 per person for AIWF Members, $2,250 per table of ten for AIWF members

$300 per person for non-members, $2,700 per table of ten for non-members

To purchase tickets or for more information, please
call the AIWF NY Chapter at

718-229-6565 or visit www.aiwf.org.

# # #

Our Mission: We enhance quality of life through education about what we eat and drink.

The American Institute of Wine & Food

Champagne Gala

To
Benefit AIWF/NY Days of Taste^®

Monday, June 5, 2006

The New York Helmsley
Hotel

Menu

HORS
D’OEUVRES

David Burke, David Burke and Donatella

VeuveClicquot Rose NV

vvv

DINNER

Blue
Fin Tuna Tartare

Avocado
& Crispy Shallots

Laurent Tourondel,
BLT Fish/BLT Steak/BLT Prime

Dom Perignon 1998

vvv

Maine Lobster Tortellini in Salsa di
Crostacei

Michael White, Fiamma Osteria

Krug
Grande Cuvée

vvv

Crisp Beef Short Ribs

Celery Root Purée, English Peas and
Chanterelles, Red Wine-Garlic Jus

SheaGallante, Cru

Newton Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa 2001

vvv

Seasonal Selection of Jasper Hill Dairy Cheeses

Terrance Brennan, Artisanal

ChâteauneufduPape, Château La Nerthe, 2003

vvv

Port Poached Bing
Cherries

Fresh Indian
Cheese, Soft Chocolate & Cocoa Bean Meringue

PichetOng, P*ONG

Moët & Chandon
Nectar Imperial

vvv

Who the heck is Julia Child?

For those of us who learned how to cook by watching Public Television, Julia Child is a childhood hero, an iconic and statuesque food enthusiast who inspired us to understand and enjoy the art of cooking. In 1963, she launched the “Televised Cooking Show” and convinced Americans that they, too, could master French cooking. And she proceeded to show everyone how.

Interesting Note: She was so well known back in the day thatDan Akroyd spoofed her on Saturday Night Live, adding the memorable pop-culture line “and now, the chicken…oh, I seem to have cut myself…” to the parlance of the time. It was a funny skit because we all knew who Julia Child was. In those days, television consisted of ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS, and that was it. More of us used to tune in to PBS because it was the place where we could see Julia (and later Jacques Pepin), happily teaching us about the wonders of cooking. Those were simple times .We listened and learned a lot in those days.

What did we learn? We all learned that Julia liked butter.We all knew that she often dismissed kitchen folklore. We intuited that she was fond of the rich things in life – those that enriched life, anyway.But she was also concerned about the growing trend in America to eat more fast foods, pre- packaged foods and meals away from home. Sitting down to dinner was supposed to be a glorious thing, not a laborious or sonorous task.

The dumbing-down of the American palate : There were several reasons for her sound the alarm bells.Americans, it seemed, were dumbing-downtheir palates, not enriching them. In the bountiful land of America , why, she asked, would an American
settle for highly processed cheese food and not enjoy a fine sharp cheddar or aromatic blue?Why did Americans not choose better foods?In her estimation, it was a lack of education .And so Julia, together with Robert Mondavi, the great California vintner, created the American Institute of Wine of Food, whose mission was to enhance the prandial habits of Americans. The Institute now focuses on teaching disadvantaged students about taste, fresh foods, food choices and the actual nutrition of the food they consume.

Twenty-five Years of Wine (and food): This year marks the 25^th Anniversary of the American Institute of Wine and Food, whose outreach program “Days of Taste” reaches thousands of New York City schoolchildren whose neighborhoods and schools are chock-full of the deep-fried, the sugar- laden and the pre-processed.Many of these children have never handled fresh produce and consume nearly 40% of their calorie intake via soft drinks and French fries. If only 10% of the 5000 students who participate in Days of Taste decide that food & nutrition choices are important, then that is 500 fewer who can avoid the serious health threats that the fast- sugar processed food outlets peddle to the working poor,
the working class, and indeed to children in all school systems.

If you are interested in learning more, visit the AIWF home page. There are many tasty and informative events that take place all over the city, throughout the year.

www.aiwf.org

Dining Out – More is more – a New York Tradition

Among the many things that make dining out in the city an event rather than just dinner is the fact that the “dining out” is the event.It is a feast. There is more on the plate than we really can or should eat. Even in upscale restaurants, where there portions are more modest, the quantity – if one follows all the courses – is more than enough to fill the average belly.Yet we want the plates to not only look full but be full, or we don’t feel that we are getting out money’s worth. Money’s worth…

Interesting Factoid: Americans spend on average less than 10% of their income on food. The Japanese spend 20%.In much of the world, the poor spend 70%.

New York Lore

Long ago, when the Big Apple was known as the Big Oyster, dining out was not so different than it is now, from the bounteous point of view. New York harbor produced oysters in quantity and quality seen nowhere else.All-you-can-eat oyster cellars peppered the old downtown. There was a lot of whatever was on hand. And then there arrived the huge and gaudy catering halls that put out feasts capable of making even Henry the Eighth blush. It is also worth noting that only women of spurious reputation dined unescorted by a gentleman, except in a “ladies-only” eatery.

While the trend in haute cuisine has long been on the trajectory of less rather than more, New York thumbs its nose at this notion. More, apparently, is more. Witness Il Postino, where entire racks of animals are brought to the table, or even a typical diner’s Hamburger Deluxe.

One of the things that Europeans have always remarked upon after arriving in America is not just the portion sizes, which are impressive, but rather the sheer volume and variety available to us. Those poor starving Puritans who back home had insisted on white bread and meat soon learned that in America, there was a huge feast waiting for them. What a puzzling predicament they found themselves in – ascetics in the land of plenty.

Interesting Factoid:The average person needs between 1500 and 2200 calories per day to maintain body weight and activity levels. But Americans, if they eat three typical meals consisting of value added foods (pre-packaged, processed items) and soft drinks, they have at hand approximately 3800- 5000 calories.The fewer fresh vegetables in the diet, the greater number of calories from fats and sugars.

New York Lore

At one time, pickled oyster from New York harbor were shipped to the Caribbean as food for the salves who worked the sugar cane plantations. Free blacks in New York were often professional oystermen. After a time, there were no more oysters in New York Harbor, and the Big Oyster became the Big Apple.

One of my Swiss friends, Sascha, decided to come visit me one winter. He had never been here and was excited to get a taste of the city. Late one night, after we had visited a few East Village and Meatpacking bars, he announced that he was starving.

“I want to experience 24 hour food,” he said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I hear that in the States, food is served 24 hours a day. In real restaurants.

What could I say? It’s true. Commerce stops for no one. It was three AM and he wanted to eat a bona fide meal. So I took him to what was then the Bendix Diner in Chelsea.

In addition to the lovely transvestite server dressed like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Sascha was impressed by the concept and quantity of the Meat Loaf Platter. It was, in his opinion, fit for a king. He ate all of it.The next day he told me, “If I lived here, I would so fat.”

While it is fun to go out once in a while and eat until you feel like a coma is coming on, it is a bad habit that we here have formed. But what can we do? Everyone tells us that we want it.

It’s not necessarily that we are gluttons. But we do have much food on hand. We waste more food than many other human beings consume. It’s not that we don’t care. It’s that we have always had such abundance on hand. This is a fecund country, a vast continent chock-full of good things to eat.

New York is especially lucky – fish, meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables and game thrive here. The next time you are at Murray’s or are ordering something from FreshDirect.com, check out the local products. You will find that amazing abundance so often remarked upon.

Interesting Factoid: New York state has several wine making regions – the Finger Lakes (Rieslings from Seneca and Cayuga lakes), Long Island (Cabernets) and the up-and-coming Hudson Valley The vintners in the Finger Lakes have been working for nigh five decades to nurture vines in this sometimes challenging environment. There’s nothing like a late frost to ruin your vintage.

New York Lore:Since the first huge catering halls opened up in New York, the art of dining has been an urban obsession. Opulence, decadence, affluence and exclusivity have always been attached to the act of going out on the town, and out on the town has always meant dinner at an exclusive hot spot. What was once Delmonico’s is now Per Se; what was once an oyster cellar is a sushi bar, what was one a food cart – well, even after all these years, still a food cart.

Maintain that tradition and glam it up and go out on the town in style. Get dressed up. Make it an evening. Order something scrumptious and leave the guilt at the door.

Celebrate New York – Eat Rhubarb

I know what you are thinking. Rhubarb !Ick. Unless you are a fan of strawberry rhubarb pie you probably have no use for this vegetable-cum-fruit. But you are missing out on a flavor that can change up the old culinary routine, or that can inspire a burst of creativity on a Sunday afternoon.

First, New York has long been famous for the fecundity of the land and the waters that flow through and also surround it. While rhubarb is not a plant native to North America ((its origins are the uplands of China and Mongolia)), it thrives in the temperate environment of New York. Rhubarb plants from upstate can put on quite a show. While the City does not necessarily inspire thoughts of greenery, one has to go only a short distance to see what Mother Nature is capable of. And now it is rhubarb season, that time of year when these stalky plants rise red and leafy from the ground.

Nostalgia:
When we were just tykes, my brother and I used to pick rhubarb stalks and chew on them. They were sour and crunchy and, like celery, they had strings. A very entertaining garden item for the curious child!(The natural red dye of the rhubarb was fun, too.)

color: maroon; ">

Modern life has made little of rhubarb.It exists almost exclusively to be made into a strawberry rhubarb pie. Blah.

Recently, I bought a few bundles of rhubarb, determined to do something tasty with them. I settled on rhubarb & ginger mousse . The stalks I had purchased were about 12 inches longs, ranging from two to three inches in width, and were a dark red with a hint of violet. I took about five of these stalks and chopped them into pieces about ½ thick, then sprinkled them with sugar and let them rest while I did other things.

The rhubarb absorbs the sugar slowly, turning it pink, which is a neat effect. Then I put these sugar-coated pieces in a saucepan and covered them with water, added a tablespoon of sugar and two tablespoons of Chiver’s Ginger Marmalade. (If I had been so inspired, I would have grated fresh ginger into the saucepan and added a little more sugar. But the Chiver’s Ginger Marmalade s really quite good – if you haven’t tried it, you should.)

After the rhubarb came to a boil, I let it cook until it was completely soft – this takes very little time, since much of the rhubarb is water. Then, I strained the boiled matter and let it cool. It turns a lovely pink color. Meanwhile, I took a pack of plain gelatin and dissolved it cold water. Then I put it on a low flame let it come to a slow boil. At this point I added another tablespoon of the ginger marmalade and stirred. As the gelatin thickened, I turned off the flame and let the gelatin begin to cool.

I then took the rhubarb and put it in the food processor, whipping it until it was fluffy, adding sugar to taste. Then I added the cooling gelatin and whipped it until it was foamy. Next, I poured the fluffy pink mixture into dessert cups and put them in the frig to set. It was really, really good - the texture was light, the balance of sweet & sour just right for a spring evening. Our dinner guests had a hard time identifying the “fruit”, and they marveled at the texture and the flavor.

Other New York Items:

Try the heirloom tomatoes that will soon be arriving at the city’s many green markets, the cheeses from Sprout Creek Farms, the wines from Long Island, and the many great herbs that are available in green markets, green grocers, speciality stores and also from FreshDirect.com.

What do I do with all of that thyme?

It is really fun to cook with fresh thyme, which is generally purchased in a bundle bigger than most apartment dwellers need for the week. An infusion of fresh thyme and lemon peels is a tasty treat, and also makes a lovely cool beverage in summer. Some people freeze herbs like thyme in ice cubes, but I dry mine and later use them for rubs and for sauces. Basil, which is very delicate, can also be dried and then rubbed into a powder that, when sprinkled on feta cheese, adds a really nice flavor. So look around and see what the local producers have to offer, and then get creative!

Avoiding the East Side (above 42 street)

At the advice of some old timers I know, I wandered into Il Postino last weekend for dinner. They had warned me that it would not be anything like the glam places that I often frequent, and told me to just go and enjoy it. That is easy to say, but for many a grumpy New Yorker, especially on the eastside, it is hard to do. Many a time I have been out on the eastside and listened to other diners bitch and moan about every little detail, nagging the servers to unbearable degrees. For that reason, I often avoid the east side between 50^th and 90^th.

“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s the eastside.I get indigestion listening to the nagging complainers over there.”

“It’s different at Il Postino,” one of my friends replied.

“How?” I asked. I have been hoodwinked before. Once, I had to great displeasure of listening to a man and his wife figure out a way to negotiate a “discount” with the poor unsuspecting server. He had no idea that they had arrived at his table already looking for a way to not have to pay for 50% of their meal.

“I don’t know,” I said. “It’s no fun to listen to nagging. I hate that.”

“You’re all wrong about it. Ask for Vincenzo,” one of them said. “You have to have Vincenzo. It’s not the same without him.”

Reasons to go to the East Side

We decided to go and check it out. Its far-eastside address puts it out of glam-radar range, proven by the fact that there were no Babettes in the dining room (although there were a few older versions with recent “face enhancements” and strangely orange-purple tans). Instead, there was a crowd obviously not concerned about the menu prices (which is great, since there are no menus).

We had arrived on time, which was at seven, or two hours earlier than our normal eating time. The dining room was already packed, and at least three waiters in white coats shot past me at the speed of light.

“Senora,” someone said, “permit me to take you coat.”

I much prefer to be called “senorina”, but time is marching on and I have to live with that fact. There were no senorinas in the dining room, but plenty of senoras, the kind who have enough money not to broadcast it by wearing obviously labeled brands. They just ooze it.

“Okay,” I said, and with a whoosh my coat and shopping bags were whisked away to a place I could only guess at.

“This way,” a waiter said.He installed us at our table and lit the single taper, then disappeared down a tiny hallway barely wide enough for a full-sized pair of American hips.

Behind us, a table full of Italian Americans were swapping stories about their respective vacations to Naples and Rome. They spoke Itanglish – that mixture of Italian and English indigenous to New York. Periodic bursts of laughter punctuated their conversation. And then Vincenzo arrived at their table to recite the menu. Like an opera singer warming up, he started with the appetizers – all ten of them.

Meanwhile at our table, more waiters arrived bringing with them a basket of bread, dishes of olive oil, some very tasty marinated zucchini and an endive salad. The bread was extremely tasty, lightly
flavored with rosemary and other Mediterranean spices. A wine list appeared.An empty plate disappeared. A woman who was slightly abuzz with wine accidentally elbowed my husband in this head. A passing waiter apologized.

And then Vincenzo came around to our table, and began to recite the menu. We had already eavesdropped on the appetizers, but there was something very special about the way that he recited each item. When he did not want to commit to a dish, he would raise his eyebrows slightly, as if to say, “eh”, but when he was truly impressed with something he would close his eyes and his moth would melt into what can only be described as pure joy.

“Tonight,” he said, “we have a beautiful octopus carpaccio.” He closed his eyes as if he were remembering a truly transcendent experience. “Delicioso.”

It is truly inspiring to have someone tell you about a dish as if it were a religious experience . It is even better when that dish is something that you really want to try. So I ordered it. It was delicioso. It was also extremely well plated.And expensive.

While I have had better Italian food around town, I have never had a Vincenzo experience. Here is a man who loves (or not) each dish individually, as if they were women he had known long ago, when he was a young man with black rather than white hair. Nothing is more sensual than that.

The next day, my friends asked me what I thought of the experience.

“Did you pass out when you got the bill?” one of them asked.“Or did you cheat and look at one of the menus.”

“Menus?” I asked.“I didn’t see any menus.”

“Ah, then the place was filled with regulars. But what did you think of Vincenzo?Did he sing for you?”

Damn! He did not! He did sing for other people, but not for me.

Feeling Slighted

I really do not feel slighted. I just feel like I should have had at least one aria. After all, I did order the ravioli with truffles, and the octopus carpaccio, and a big fat bottle of Barolo. What more does it take to get an aria?

Thanks to my friends for suggesting that I check out this place. It is as close to being in a Scorsese film as I will ever get.