Day Two of StarChefs International Chefs Congress had a high-energy buzz. Maybe it took everyone a whole day to get into the swing of things, but there was a definite upswing in the energy level inside the Park Avenue Armory.
I started my day at the interactive workshop conducted by Ken Oringer of Boston's Clio restaurant. A regular to the International Chefs Congress, I first became an admirer of Ken when he made the most delicious oyster chowder for the cocktail hour in 2006. Served inside a hollowed-out egg shell with tiny straws, I must have consumed at least twenty of them.
The first big event on the main stage was the highly anticipated panel discussion on Art vs. Craft. Sitting in directors chairs at the center of the stage were David Kinch of the two Michelin starred Manresa in California, uber chef Thomas Keller of The French Laundry and Per Se, and farm-to-table chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns. The discussion was moderated by food writer Michael Ruhlman.
To me, the best part of Day One at the StarChefs ICC were Bernard Lahousse and Dominique Persoone of The Chocolate Line in Brugge, Belgium--the guys who invented the Chocolate Shooter for snorting chocolate. On the main stage, this chocolatier/scientist duo discussed food pairings with chocolate, and demonstrated to the audience how the experience of tasting chocolate, or any food for that matter, is greatly affected by our physical surroundings--the sights, sounds, and smells in our environment at the time we're eating any product. They used the example of eating seafood on the beach versus eating seafood in a restaurant, arguing that the fish will always taste better when it's consumed sitting on the sand in front of the ocean, smelling salt water and hearing waves crash on the shore. In their presentation, the audience sampled their chocolate-Tequila bonbon while they played Mariachi music and filled the main stage with the scent of lime.
Having wrapped up its forth year and still going strong, the International Chef's Congress, organized by StarChefs.com and held every September, is still the premier food event in America.
I've attended three of the past four Chef's Congresses, and the only disappointing thing was that I didn't attend all four. With guests spanning the culinary elite from countries the world over, the roster of Chef's Congress speakers and demonstrators reads like a list of angels—and even some deities—from food heaven: Pierre Hermé, Albert Adria, Frédéric Bau, Ken Oringer, José Andrés, Eric Ripert, Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson, Masaharu Morimoto, Wylie Dufresne, Oriol Balaguer, Joël Robuchon, Gualtiero Marchesi, Dan Barber, Elena and Juan Mari Arzak, Elizabeth Falkner, Charlie Trotter, Pierre Gagnier, Grant Achatz, Paco Torreblanca, Pichet Ong, Albert Trummer....
The Congress, a three day event, not only highlights the talents and trends in the universe of food, it brings together seasoned professionals with budding up-and-comers for an exciting exchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas . Young chefs leave the event inspired, energized, and rearing to rise up in the food world and make a name for themselves with their own culinary creations.
At the fourth annual Congress I had the great good fortune of meeting founder Antoinette Bruno and spending a day watching her in action. A veritable force of energy on two legs, without Antoinette this event wouldn't go off nearly as well as it does, year after year. Of course every event of such a large scale has blips, but Bruno trouble-shoots in real time, juggling Blackberry messages, walkie-talkie communications among staffers, and the schedules of her star chefs, all while maintaining an air of sheer joy at watching her event unfold—like a kid who started her own candy shop. As if that weren't enough, Bruno is also a talented self-taught photographer whose images of food and chefs grace the pages of the Congresses' glorious program book.
Antoinette Bruno w/ Juan Mari Arzak
With more hands-on workshops, demonstrations and tastings than I can cover here, I'd just like to share some photos (well, quite a lot of photos actually) of my personal favorites from this year's Congress: Masaharu Morimoto, Jose Andrés, Juan Mari Arzak, Paco Torreblanca, Marcus Samuelsson, Rohini Dey and Maneet Chauhan.
Masaharu Morimoto (on Fish, of course), Iron Chef
The Highly Animated Jose Andres of Mini Bar, Washington DC
Owner Rohini Dey and Executive Chef Maneet Chauhan, At Vermilion
Hands-on Workshop w/ Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Aquavit
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