Food & Wine Classic In Aspen

It’s back to business after having the luxury of spending the weekend at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. I have to say this was one of the greatest, most high quality and most organized events I’ve ever been to. It was first class all the way.

My 4 day journey began with a 6am flight on Thursday morning out of La Guardia. While I was waiting to board the plane Bobby Flay walked up so I knew the show had begun. Also spotted on the flight were Best New Chef April Bloomfield and one of last years BNC’s David Chang. I arrived in Aspen at 10:30am with NO flight issues whatsoever, checked into my condo and headed straight to shopping and then lunch at D19. I decided to keep it light due to the altitude and knowing how much food I would consume throughout the weekend and went for the smoked chicken salad with blue cheese and raisins. The salad was delicious (if not a bit small and overpriced at $18) and it was great to sit outside on the patio in the sun and watch the world go by. Too bad the service was absolutely horrible!

Thursday night began with the Welcome Reception in the courtyard of The St. Regis. Much of the food consisted of various flatbreads prepared by Todd English. The setting was beautiful and the crowd happily indulged.

After the party my group headed over to Kenichi for dinner. Overall, the food there was a bit disappointing to me. The sushi rolls were short on the fish and heavy on the rice. None of the multitude of appetizers that we ordered really struck me either. I ordered a pomegranate martini that was completely unacceptable and had to switch back to Sapporo. The only really notable part of the dinner occurred mid-meal when the town of Aspen shot off an awe-inspiring fireworks display over Aspen Mountain to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Classic.

Friday morning I was up bright and early to catch Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali on Good Morning America. From there it was straight into the wine seminars. First up was “Bargain Red Burgandies” led by Mary Ewing Mulligan and her husband Ed McCarthy, authors of Wine For Dummies. To me, some of the price tags were not so “bargain”, but I sure did enjoy the 2004 Louis Jadot Pommard ($27)!

Next it was off to the first Grand Tasting, held under the tents in Wagner Park. Row after row of vintners from all over the world offered up tastes of their Jesus Juice. Honestly, I tried so many different ones I sadly can’t recommend any one specific one!

After a liquid lunch it was back to the seminars, this time sitting in on Mark Oldman's “Looks Like Red, Acts Like White”. This wine seminar was by far my favorite. Oldman was really fun and kept it fresh and easy. He started off by having us taste “Chateau Le Tay” which was really a class of tea to demonstrate tannins. Then he had us smell various items such as plums, dirt and bubblegum so that we could more easily detect these smells in the wines being served. From this batch of “pivot wines”, my favorites were the 2005 Remy Chinon ($15) and the 2004 Chapoutier Crozes-Hermitage Petit Ruche ($25). A unique addition to the group for sure was the 2004 Bailly-Reverdy Sancerre Rouge.

After another brief stop at the Grand Tasting Pavillion to get books signed by Giada de Laurentiis & Bobby,

it was on to the Publisher’s Anniversary Party on top of Mount Aspen. As the sun was setting the gondola decadently whisked the guests up to the lodge at the top of the mountain where a spread of king crab legs, shrimp, various organic meats and antipasti awaited. Even more exciting was the trip back down the mountain. For me, after MANY glasses of champagne, the gondola was almost transformed into a glass spaceship heading straight for the town of Apsen!

Up bright and early again for Saturday morning to hit the last of the wine seminars. This time it was “Tuscany’s Classic Trio”, again led by Mary & Ed. Most of these Chianti wines were a bit too tart and acidic for me, but of course the $85 bottle of 2000 Castelgio Condo di Frescobaldi Riserva suited me just fine though!

In the afternoon it was all about the cooking seminars. First up was “Secrets Of The French Laundry” with Thomas Keller. The only secret I was really able to make out was that a lot of the food at French Laundry is poached in special plastic baggies (and that Thomas Keller is definitely better suited in the kitchen than hosting a seminar). After yet ANOTHER quick stop at the Grand Tasting, this time to get a book signed by Emeril,

I headed off to my final seminar “Celebrating Mesa Grill” with Bobby Flay. Now this was more like it. He made his signature dish of shrimp and roasted garlic corn tamale with fresh corn and cilantro sauce as well as the ancho chile-honey glazed salmon with a spicy black bean sauce, tomatillo salsa and roasted jalapeno crema. YUM! He was a really funny and fun while remaining extremely informative, really showing why he is a master behind the camera.

Saturday night was the Best New Chefs party, held at the newly opened Doerr-Hosier Center at Aspen Meadows. VERY cool space – reminded me of a contemporary art museum. Each of the best new chefs had a station set up with a signature dish. My favorites were definitely the pappardelle with milk roasted baby goat ragu from Johnny Monis, the carmelized onion and bone marrow sandwich from Gabriel Rucker, and the guilded chocolate from Gabriel Bremer.

After the BNC party it was on to some serious partying. First up was Skybar at the Sky Hotel. The atmosphere was very Miami meets ski lodge filled with a hip no-attitude crowd. From there we headed over to Two 12, a private clubhouse for the foodie crowd. I was hesitant at first to go there due to the strict door policy (I didn’t feel like dealing with the whole velvet rope/Bungalow 8 thing) but once inside it proved to be amazing party. Everyone was there from celebrity chefs to Top Chefs to Best New Chefs.

I’ll end it there since my head hurt to much after all of that to process anything more. All I know is I’m already reserving my spot for next year!