Michelin released its 2009 guide to city restaurants and hotels on Monday, with a few notable additions and changes. [BizBash]
Shortly after Michelin, Zagat published its 2009 rankings, with Union Square Café and Gramercy Tavern making the top of the 10 most popular places list again. [Eater]
Alan Richman challenges Michelin's two-star rating for Gordon Ramsay at the London, criticizing the restaurant's "old-fashioned" cooking and "disappointing dishes." [GQ]
More delays could plague the construction at the World Trade Center site as the Port Authority and developer Larry Silverstein fight over removing a 400-foot-long wall. [Crain's]
A group of business owners claim that former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman is illegally lobbying city officials in support of Mayor Bloomberg's Willets Point redevelopment plan. [NYDN]
Models at the Calvin Klein launch Photo: Courtesy of Overcat Communications
FROM TORONTO When Coty Canada began planning Tuesday's media launch for the new Calvin Klein fragrance Secret Obsession, the company wanted to create a sense of mystery and suspense for guests. “Since the name of the product is Secret Obsession, we wanted to invite all of the media members and really not reveal where they were going," said Aliki Mahshy, director of public relations and education for Coty Canada. So the company arranged for private cars to pick up guests and drive them to a location that remained "undisclosed," Mahshy said.
Guests were dropped at the shipping entrance to a downtown building and taken through a subterranean tunnel of sorts to enter the event space, the the bank vault in the basement of the Suites at 1 King West. (The building, now a hotel, once housed the head office of the Dominion Bank of Canada.) “This location was so indicative of Secret Obsession. When we found this it was extremely intriguing to us. There’s a lot of caged elements and the idea or concept of unlocking something. It was really very fitting for this particular brand," Mahshy said.
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) announced yesterday the host cities for four of its upcoming conferences. The 24,000-member group’s largest annual gathering, the World Education Conference, will head to Orlando, Florida, from July 23 to 26, 2011; to St. Louis from July 28 to 31, 2012; and to Las Vegas from July 20 to 23, 2013. (The 2009 and 2010 incarnations are set take place July 11 to 14 in Salt Lake City and July 24 to 27 in Vancouver, British Columbia, respectively.)
MPI also holds an annual MeetDifferent conference, which focuses on innovative meeting design, alternative learning strategies, and new technology. The 2009 event is planned for February 7 to 10 in Atlanta, and the organization also announced yesterday that the 2010 conference will take place in Cancun, Mexico, February 20 to 23. —Claire Hoffman
FDCC president Robin Kay Photo: Courtesy of the Fashion Design Council of Canada
FROM TORONTO The Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC), which launched L'Oréal Fashion Week eight years ago, is set to present the spring 2009 collections from October 20 through 25 in the tents at Nathan Phillips Square. This season's shows, being held over six days, will be Toronto's biggest presentation yet.
"It’s growing in every way—in awareness and attendance, in designers and sponsorship," said FDCC president Robin Kay, who noted that more than 35 sponsors have signed on to support Fashion Week, during which more than 70 designers will showcase their work in 38 shows on two runways (a first for L'Oréal Fashion Week). We asked Kay how the event has evolved and how she envisions its future.
You have implemented some major changes within the past year. What's your goal?
To be a really great Fashion Week that designers want to come to and show at and sell product. Fashion Week is a calling card for the industry, for designers to sell clothes, for reporters and writers and photographers, and retailers and buyers. It’s a huge, huge industry that was absent in Canada…I came to realize it because I was a designer, and when I stopped and looked up and saw there was nothing happening in this country, I really thought a Fashion Week would be the best attention grabber. It’s been inspirational for the city. It’s wonderful to link art and commerce, to link sponsors with the event and to build our country’s fashion economy. That’s what’s exciting for me.
Tonight, a tasting event at the Chelsea Market kicks off the first New York City Wine & Food Festival, the Northeast version of South Beach's big food fair. Among the numerous parties, demonstrations, and discussions—there are more than 50 individual events during the festival—five look like they'll draw the biggest crowds and most press coverage.
Perhaps the most notable of these is Friday night's Burger Bash, which is the New York incarnation of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival event of the same name. As in Florida, Rachael Ray will host the waterfront party that will involve chefs like David Burke, Michael Lomonaco, and Laurent Tourondel competing to make the tastiest burger. Attendees will be able to sample the beef patties at Brooklyn's Tobacco Warehouse and afterward return to Manhattan on the free Delta Airlines-sponsored bus.
The New Yorker Festival's pedi cabs Photo: Startraks
In case you haven’t heard, the first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem. So here goes: As far as the performing arts are concerned, I am a philistine.
I’ve fought this compulsion privately for years, and now I’m out and proud with it. I went to opening night at the American Ballet Theatre for years, staying through the entire performance (well, only because board member Muffie Potter Aston told me that the board made specific pleas to members not to leave during the show because it’s disheartening to the troupe). I toiled on committees for the New York Public Library and Cooper-Hewitt Museum for years, hosting little cocktail parties, organizing ticket buyers, and worst of all, attending meetings.
I gave up going to the theater because no one would attend with me anymore due to the snoring. The last musical I enjoyed was Sweeney Todd. My friend Bernadette could be counted on to fax me the libretto of just about any opera performance I took in, but I don’t think I could make it through three acts today.
Remember going to the Angelika and sitting through a three-hour French movie about a sad, abused, but ultimately honorable pregnant maid? Yep, me too. But these days I get up and leave the cinema as soon as I can predict the ending—which inevitably occurs about 40 to 45 minutes into the run time.
Thermador's cooking contest-style press event Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash
With the ongoing popularity of Food Network cooking shows and reality TV series Top Chef, more and more chefs are coming out of the kitchen and into the spotlight—especially at events. Yesterday, Thermador played up this trend by presenting three New York culinary personalities in a cooking show-style format as a vehicle to promote its latest cooktops. Dubbed the Thermador Chefs Challenge, the event at the Altman Building involved two sessions—one in the afternoon and another in the evening—for more than 300 journalists and interior designers.
Hosted by chef and restaurateur Tom Colicchio, the challenge pitted chefs Michael Psilakis (of Anthos) and Alex Guarnaschelli (of Butter) against each other in a 15-minute cook-off involving chocolate. Although no winner was declared and the focus was more on the new technology than the chefs's performances, guests were able to sample the dishes and see the appliances in action. The event was overseen by Thermador PR manager Marni Hale and marketing agency the Rogers Group.
Last night, Absolut turned the Upper East Side's 583 Park Avenue into Studio 54. Sort of. The event for the social set, press, and celebrities launched Absolut Disco, the new mirror-covered bottle holder. To highlight this new product, the spirits company hired Extra! Extra! to design a disco-era environment and produce a look reminiscent of the famed nightclub.
READ MORE RELATED TOPICSAbsolut
A beer and truffle pairing from Vosges Photo: Courtesy of Vosges Haut-Chocolat
Vosges Haut-Chocolat, a line of chocolates made with ingredients from around the world, recently launched a special events division. The company now features themed sweets tables with guided tastings, chocolate pairings, gift items, and private events in its Lincoln Park location in Chicago, in its SoHo and Upper East Side locations in New York, and in its Las Vegas boutique. Vosges can also provide its services off site, and a special events director is available to help planners sort through their options.
Vosges incorporates ingredients like spices, edible flowers, chili peppers, and other globally sourced products in its creations, which make for interesting chocolate pairings with wine, cheese, beer, scotch, or absinthe. Also available are special themed tables with guided tastings—including selections that focus on the flavors of one country or region, for example. A chocolate concierge, outfitted in a chef's uniform, mans each event and can also help guests choose items to create personal gift bags.
The food truck trend doesn't seem to be waning. The Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, a mobile offshoot of Anita Lo’s Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, is the latest vending vehicle to hit the streets, offering a savory alternative to the city’s rapidly multiplying desserttrucks. Run by Kenny Lao, the truck serves an abbreviated menu of dumplings from the restaurant, like pork and Chinese chive, chicken and Thai basil, and edamame. Additional flavors from the restaurant’s menu can be custom-ordered for events. The retail cost for six dumplings is $6. The base cost for truck rental is $500; food and staffing is additional. —Lisa Cericola
