by Sophie Gayot

If you have been to Mark Gold’s Eva Restaurant on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, you are familiar with his sleek and modern cuisine which earned him a very good GAYOT rating of 15/20.

If you head to Sadie in Hollywood, the former space of Les Deux, you will discover another aspect of Gold’s cuisine: a bistro style that is very well done. Watch my exclusive video interview above to whet your appetite. I am sure that you will enjoy your evening there, especially if you dine on the very pleasant patio.

You can click on each photo to enlarge to see dishes from Sadie restaurant menu. All photos by Sophie Gayot.

Singer Margo Rey will be performing at The Blvd on May 18th 2012

by Sophie Gayot

The next GAYOT Dinner Series will be a musical one. Join me at THEBlvd, at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel, on May 18th.

The dinner is priced at $185, and will be well worth it. The evening will start at 7 p.m. with a red carpet entrance. The meal includes a Champagne toast and a special Black Grouse cocktail to finish the soirée. Don’t worry, you will not have to change seats during the four-course dinner prepared by the hotel’s executive chef Gilles Azur. The entertainment will come to you! At 9:30 p.m., singer Margo Rey will perform her songs in the dining room.

To purchase tickets, go to https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/249766. Pricing doesn’t include tax and gratuity. I hope to see you there!

2012 James Beard Foundation Awards

25 Years of Food at its Best

by Alain Gayot and David Farley

The first week of May is often dominated by thoughts of where to go for the long Memorial Day weekend at the end of the month. Or about summer travel, in general. For foodies, though, it’s about one thing: the James Beard Awards. As per usual, the awards took place this week at Lincoln Center and were a glorious gala of the country’s best of the best in the food industry.

Chefs and attendees flew in from across the country, but the home team did very well. New York was well represented in the winner’s circle with Eleven Madison Park’s chef, Daniel Humm, taking the cake, or, rather the top award for Best Chef while Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi took home honors for Rising Chef. In the Best Chef NYC category, Gramercy Tavern’s Michael Anthony was the big winner. Other Big Apple restaurants and individuals that received awards included Terroir’s Paul Grieco for Outstanding Beer, Wine, and Spirits Professional and La Grenouille for Outstanding Service.

Not all of the awards stayed in Manhattan. Wolfgang Puck won the Lifetime Achievement Award, while Next in Chicago won Best New Restaurant presented by Mercedes-Benz. Of course, a night like this couldn’t take place without the generosity of such sponsors, which also included Campari, Lavazza, Stella Artois and S. Pellegrino. Urbanspoon set up a suite on the balcony of Avery Fisher Hall where live music was performed and a cake baked by “Ace of Cakes” Duff Goldman honoring the James Beard Foundation’s 25th Anniversary was presented.

After the awards, which were emceed by Alton Brown, the attendees spilled out into the lobby to swarm the dozens of food and drink offerings, which included everything from Champagne tastings to negronis to a great Dungeness crab Reuben sandwich by Vitaly of Paley’s Place of Portland. All the while there was plenty of whispering about where various after-parties would take place. Bar Boulud, the post-Beard awards standby, was packed. Predictably, Gramercy Tavern and Eleven Madison Park were flowing with Champagne Henriot and crammed with celebratory revelers until the wee morning.

Keep coming back to GAYOT.com for more New York City Restaurant News, Restaurant Reviews, Culinary Events and NYC Wine Dinners.

Related Content:
2012 James Beard Foundation award winners
James Beard Foundation website

You can click on each photo to enlarge.

Red wine weekend

by Barb Rybicki

Where can you attempt to get five dozen passport stamps in a single weekend with no jet lag? Passport to Dry Creek Valley, of course. Now in its 23rd year, the sold-out annual wine and food tasting event, held the last weekend of April in Northern Sonoma County, California, once again offered visitors a spectacular whirlwind tour of one of California’s loveliest wine appellations.

The “Zinfamous” region celebrates a century of Zinfandel growing, often by multi-generational families. Boutique, small production wineries lie just around a bend from renowned cult producers. The weekend open house allows eager passport holders to sample the remarkable variety of nuanced conglomerations of grapes, terroir and individual winemaking philosophy.

Passport weekend is almost as much about the food as the wine. This is no “cheese cubes and water crackers palate cleansing” between wines. Not when local chefs stake out a few of the wineries: Dustin Valette from Dry Creek Kitchen set up a kitchen station at Mauritson, turning out sliders, crab cakes and savory cones for barrel room minglers under Christmas lights; Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar’s John Franchetti helmed an outdoor pizza oven adjacent to grapevines at Amista; duck and lamb tamales from farmer’s market king Mateo Granados tasted even better on the deck above Zichichi’s estate vineyard; at Passalacqua Winery, Zin Restaurant & Wine Bar’s Jeff Mall seared sausages across from Petite Syrah’s Josh Silvers plating ham hock arancini.

Other wineries took picnicking to a new level with impressive full plates prepped on the spot. Top tastes were Talty’s tacos and Kokomo’s barbecued pork with sweet corn cake.

As for the scene, the late spring heat unveiled yet-to-be-tanned legs in cargo shorts and silk summer dresses; wedge heels seemed just right to negotiate gravel and grass. Amusements included petanque at Kachina Vineyards and bocce at Martorana. Chateau Diana revived the 1980s: a DJ spun Billy Idol and Oingo Boingo, Flash Dancers poured against a backdrop of Ghostbusters and Ferris Bueller’s posters, pop rocks chocolate popsicles provided a stimulating zin pairing, and posers nestled into a spread-eagled DeLorean. Kokomo’s old-time photo booth with props and Dry Creek Vineyard’s nostalgic sailor singers were other revivalists. Meanwhile, VIPs embarked on a show-stopping helicopter flight straight out of Passalacqua’s vineyard.

If you missed it, a few photos might offer up some of the weekend’s flavors, and tempt you for next year. Visit GAYOT.com for upcoming wine events in Napa/Sonoma and elsewhere.

You can click on each photo to enlarge.

A room at The Waldorf=Astoria in New York City

The Legendary Waldorf Astoria Brand Makes Plans to Travel the World

There are few hotels in the world more iconic than The Waldorf=Astoria. A Manhattan institution, it is said to be the first hotel to have offered room service, it’s the birthplace of the Waldorf salad, and Marilyn Monroe famously lived in its sumptuous digs for months. Under its parent company, Hilton, the Waldorf Astoria brand is making plans for an aggressive expansion that will bring its signature style to major cities around the globe.

With 23 properties already in its portfolio — including Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund, The Boulders, Grand Wailea and Trianon Palace Versailles — the company has planned an impressive slate of openings, including its first Southeast Asia outpost in Bangkok in 2015. This expansion is intended to make Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts the fastest-growing luxury hotel brand in the world, to compete with such high-profile brands as The Ritz-Carlton and the Four Seasons. The hotels in the works include properties in Amsterdam, Berlin, Dubai, Panama City, Jerusalem and Crete.

Reserve a room at The Waldorf=Astoria
Reserve a room at Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund
Reserve a room at The Boulders, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
Reserve a room at Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
Reserve a room at Trianon Palace Versailles, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel

Related Content:
Read the GAYOT review of The Waldorf=Astoria
Read the GAYOT featured review of Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund
Read the GAYOT review of The Boulders, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
Read the GAYOT featured review of Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort
Read the GAYOT review of Trianon Palace Versailles, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel
Visit the Waldorf Astoria website
More Travel News

You can click on each photo to enlarge.

From left to right: Joe Panarello, Kevin Meehan, Shigefumi Tachibe, Paul Shoemaker, Calvin Holladay, Mirko Paderno (front), Sophie Gayot, Collin Crannell (front), Larry Nicola, Jeremy Berlin, Jean Francois Meteigner

by Sophie Gayot

Once again, I have been honored by being asked to serve as the Honorary Chair of the annual Flavors Culinary Gala of the Los Angeles Division of the American Liver Foundation. The sixth edition of the fundraiser will be held on May 20th at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, starting at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception and a silent auction, followed by a sit-down dinner. The worthwhile gathering will also be the tenth GAYOT.com Dinner Series.

This culinary event is unique, as the chefs are actually cooking right in front of you at a table of only ten guests. It’s like enjoying your own private chef for the evening. You can ask them all the questions that you want, learn a few tricks and get some recipes, all while supporting a true cause.

The participating chefs are:
- Scott Conant, Scarpetta at Montage Beverly Hills
- Pedro Contreras, Jer-Ne at The Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey
- Collin Crannell, The Lobster
- Tony DiSalvo & Chris Crary, Whist at The Viceroy Santa Monica (Chris Crary is one of GAYOT’s 2012 Top 5 Rising Chefs)
- Calvin Holladay, Flemings LA LIVE
- Kevin Meehan, Private Chef
- Keith Roberts, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel
- Steve Samson & Zach Pollack, Sotto
- John Sedlar, Rivera and Playa restaurants
- Paul Shoemaker, Savory
- Shigefumi Tachibe, Chaya
- Mathew Woolf, WEST Restaurant & Lounge at Hotel Angeleno

Below, view photos of last year’s event. You will see that the chefs are really yours for the evening!

A limited number of individual seats are available for $275, all inclusive, by contacting the Greater Los Angeles Division of the American Liver Foundation at 310-670-4624 or tfantini@liverfoundation.org. All proceeds benefit the Foundation’s programs of education, research, and advocacy for those affected by liver disease including hepatitis. For more information, please visit www.liverfoundation.org.

You can click on each photo to enlarge. All photos by Sophie Gayot.

2012 Cochon 555 winner chef Ben Ford, his wife Emily, his son Ethan with Sophie Gayot

by Sophie Gayot

UPDATE 5/06/12 : The winner is Ben Ford, Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City. See photos of the event in the gallery below.

Once again, I enjoyed judging the competition!

On May 6, five top LA chefs will each prepare a 175-pound, heritage-breed hog from head to toe for a friendly competition called Cochon 555. This ten-city touring event is the only culinary competition of its kind in the country and will help family farms sustain and expand their businesses. Competing in the LA stop will be Neal Fraser, Ben Ford (Ford’s Filling Station), Jason Neroni (Superba Snack Bar), Micah Wexler (Mezze) and last year’s winner, Chad Colby (Osteria Mozza). To support the event and its worthy cause, I will be there with other local judges to determine a winner based on presentation, utilization and overall best flavor.

In addition, five selected winemakers will showcase their wines: Turley Wine, Matthiasson Wine, Scholium Project, K Vintners and Buty Winery. The event begins at 5 p.m. at the House of Blues, Los Angeles, 8430 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069. General admission tickets are $125, and VIP tickets (which allow entry at 4 p.m.) are $200. Tickets and more information are available at: www.cochon555.com
I hope to see you there. And for those who cannot attend, I will announce the winner of the 2012 Los Angeles Cochon 555 in the evening, here in this blog, so check back. Good luck, chefs!

You can click on each photo to enlarge.

by Sophie Gayot

Want to learn about oysters, the “merroir,” and how to open them? My words would not be as good as those of Maître Écailler Christophe Happillon. So just watch my exclusive video interview with him and enjoy his charming French accent from Marseille.

If you live in the Los Angeles area, visit Happillon’s website to find out where you can taste his oysters. Happillon can also come to the comfort of your own home for parties.

We didn’t get a chance to discuss two important oyster topics:
- how to pair them with wine. Follow our advice in “Pairing Wine with Oysters” from GAYOT.com’s Wine section.
- oysters are considered an aphrodisiac. Read why in GAYOT’s Top 10 Romantic Foods list.

You can click on each photo to enlarge.

The Victorian-era Leadenhall Market, one of the Harry Potter filming locations on the tour

The Rubens at the Palace Welcomes Harry Potter Fans

The Harry Potter film series may have finished in 2011, but that doesn’t mean fans need to put their wands into storage. With The Rubens at the Palace’s Harry Potter Experience, the magic continues as fellow wizards (and their families) discover many of the landmark London sites featured on the big screen.

The Harry Potter Experience begins after a hearty complimentary breakfast, when a black cab with a qualified driver picks you up at the hotel, not far from the Ministry of Magic. You’ll then enjoy an amazing three-hour guided tour of the London locations used in all eight films, including ‘Platform 9 ¾’, Diagon Alley and The Leaky Cauldron and the Victorian Leadenhall Market. You can also check out Gringotts Wizarding Bank and follow the route of the Knight Bus before discovering that Brockdale Bridge is in one piece and that you can walk across it.

This package can be added onto any of the hotel’s other Family Value offers and includes:

• Two nights’ accommodation in a luxurious Executive Suite
• Full English breakfast for the entire family on the day of your tour
• Three-hour Harry Potter tour in a black cab, with a driver who is an experienced tour guide
• Harry Potter wand with cloak and glasses for the kids
• Harry Potter cupcakes at turndown
• A framed family photograph taken at the start of the tour
• Certificate that you have completed the tour of all the film locations

Prices start from £606.50 per night (excluding VAT) based on two adults and two children under ten years old sharing an Executive Suite (children sharing a sofa bed). This package is valid until December 31, 2012. For more information, go to www.rubenshotel.com

You can click on each photo to enlarge.

Related Content:
GAYOT’s The Rubens at the Palace hotel review
GAYOT’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ movie review
London 72-hour vacation guide
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