Cocktail Film Fest

Who doesn't love a good cocktail? I had the opportunity to meet Ann Rogers, founder of Tales of the Cocktail, last weekend at the NY Times Travel Show. We definitely plan to attend this event in July, as the presentation at the show was phenomenal. I also had the opportunity to get a little bit tipsy in the middle of the day, which is not always a bad thing.

There are some great activities leading up to the event, so take a peek at the film fest details below. What is a cocktail film without Marilyn Monroe?

COCKTAIL FILM FEST CELEBRATES SIPPING IN CINEMA WITH THREE SCREENINGS AT W NEW ORLEANS HOTEL

Host Cheryl Charming presents movies and themed cocktails and food March 21 – 22.

Fun Facts!

What is it?

Tales of the Cocktail and the W New Orleans invite movie buffs and libation lovers to indulge in two evenings of celebrating cocktail in film. Cheryl Charming, cocktail writer and founder of MissCharming.com, plays hostess for the screenings

Your Hostess for the Weekend
Film Fest hostess Cheryl Charming has been in the food and beverage industry since 1976, tending bar, authoring bar and cocktail related books and teaching bar tricks to Walt Disney World bartenders. Cheryl also writes cocktail related articles and frequents as a celebrity cocktail guest on various radio, television, and podcast shows. She is a member of The Bartenders Guild, FBA (Flair Bartenders Association) and The Museum of the American Cocktail. She resides in Downtown Orlando and maintains the website MissCharming.com.

The Film Fest schedule is as follows:

• Friday, March 21, 8 p.m., Casablanca
• Saturday, March 22, 5 p.m., The Seven Year Itch
• Saturday, March 22, 8 p.m., Guys and Dolls

Seating for all films are dinner party style.

Drinks and Dishes Being Served:

Friday, March 21, 8 p.m., Casablanca.
An evening filled with Moroccan food, French 75’s, Champagne Cocktails, Brandy, film-theme spirits, prizes, and fun while viewing this Academy Award winning romance film of 1942.

Saturday, March 22, 5 p.m., The Seven Year Itch
This Happy Hour is filled with prizes and all the Itch cocktails; Martinis, Tom Collins’, Scotch, Whiskey Sours, Gin and Tonics! There will be lots of snacky snacky foods and retro candy to munch on during this Summer blockbuster of 1955 too. Cameras are welcome, as you may want your photo taken with Marilyn!

Saturday, March 22, 8 p.m., Guys and Dolls
Followed after the Happy Hour film is this dinner film filled with Mojitos, Cuba Libres, Mexican beer, and Milk Punch served in coconut cups. Dinner is our twist on cuisine invented in the 1950s; The TV Dinner! Door prizes and wedding cake also accompany this Academy Award nominated of 1955.

Tickets
Tickets are $25 per film, per person, and include drinks, cocktail food and snacks. A weekend package that includes all three films is $65 per person, which saves you $10 for the weekend. For tickets, visit www.TalesoftheCocktail.com or call 504-377-7935 beginning March 1, 2008.

Parking
The W New Orleans is featuring a special parking rate of $12 for Cocktail Film Fest goers per night. *This does not apply to overnight guests.

Special Room Rates:
The W New Orleans is featuring a special rate of $129 a night for Cocktail Film Fest goers. Visit www.whotels.com/wneworleans for more information.

Rare Gastronomic Book Auction: NYC April 7th

I received this press release this morning, and I must say that for the avid cookbook collector this could be quite an adventure:

SWANN GALLERIES APRIL 7 AUCTION OF EARLY PRINTED BOOKS/GASTRONIMIC LITERATURE FEATURES AN EMPHASIS ON 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY ENGLISH AND AMERICAN CULINARY CLASSICS.



New York—On Monday, April 7, Swann Galleries will offer a fascinating panorama of the history of cooking and dining. Provided by The Fillin & Yeh Collection of Gastronomic Literature, the auction represents the second part of the Swann Galleries sale on April 7, 2008. The collection comprises 114 lots ranging from nearly 50 pre-1800 works to inscribed first editions by M. F. K. Fisher, with an emphasis on 18th- and 19th-century English and American culinary classics.

Highlights include Patrick Lamb, Royal Cookery; or, The Complete Court-Cook, London, 1710, first edition, by the cook to 3 English monarchs ($4000/6000); Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy, one of the most popular English cookbooks of the 18th century, here in both the 1747 London first edition ($8000/12,000) and the 1805 Alexandria (Virginia) first American edition ($1000/2000); Amelia Simmons, American Cookery, Walpole, New Hampshire, 1812, later edition of the first cookbook by an American author ($2000/3000); Mary Randolph, The Virginia Housewife, Baltimore, 1836, a Southern classic and the first American regional cookbook ($400/600); Isabella Beeton, The Book of Household Management, London, 1861, first edition in book form of the bestselling English cookbook of the Victorian era ($1000/2000); Esther Levy, Jewish Cookery Book, Philadelphia, 1871, first edition of the first American Jewish cookbook; and M. F. K. Fisher, Serve It Forth, New York, 1937, first edition of Fisher's first book, inscribed to Lucille and Walter Fillin ($600/900).

A selection of later 19th-/early 20th-century American charity cookbooks features Maria J. Moss, A Poetical Cook-Book, Philadelphia, 1864, the first American fundraising cookbook, and Hattie A. Burr, The Woman Suffrage Cook Book, Boston, 1886, apparently the earliest suffragist fundraising cookbook ($400/600 each).

The first part of the April 7 sale consists of Early Printed Books, including 16th and 17th century English books from the collection of Dr. Elmer Pfefferkorn, emeritus professor of microbiology at Dartmouth Medical School.

Among these are the complete classical translations of Philemon Holland, comprising his versions of Livy, The Romane Historie, London, 1600 ($1000/2000); Plutarch, The Philosophie, commonlie called the Morals, London 1603 ($3000/5000); Suetonius, The Historie of Twelve Caesars, London, 1606 ($1500/2500); Ammianus Marcellinus, The Roman Historie, London, 1609 ($800/1200); Xenophon, Cyrupaedia, The Institution and Life of Cyrus, London, 1632 ($1000/2000); and Pliny the Elder, The Historie of the World, London, 1601 ($1500/2500).

Also noteworthy are Thucydides, The Hystory, London, 1550, first edition in English ($2000/3000); Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford, 1624, second edition of the first psychiatric encyclopedia ($3000/5000); Giovanni Boccaccio, The Modell of Wit, Mirth, Eloquence, and Conversation, London, 1625-20, first complete English translation of the Decameron ($4000/6000); Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, London, 1579, first edition in English and an important source for Shakespeare's Roman plays ($4000/6000); and Raphael Holinshed, Chronicles, London, 1587, second edition of an important source for Shakespeare's English history plays ($3000/5000).

For further information, and to make advance arrangements to bid by telephone during the auction, please contact Tobias Abeloff at (212) 254-4710, extension 18, or via email at tabeloff@swanngalleries.com.

# # #

Culinary Media Network, food, food writing, cookbook, auction, food history, Culinary Podcast Network, Gilded Fork

Wedginald is Retired

If you listened to my Food Philosophy audio and video shows featuring the cheeky Brit Dom Lane and Wedginald, the star of CheddarVision, you know that at some point Wedginald would reach his first birthday and be retired from his starring role. Well, my friends, that time has come. Behold:

***

Last Episode Of cheddarvision.tv Is A Cheesey Christmas Special 21 Dec 07

Today, in the final chapter of perhaps one of the most surprising stories of the year, Wedginald, the 44lb star of www.cheddarvision.tv retired from the small screen and jetted off down under. After 12 months starring on possibly the most boring broadcast channel in the world, the celebrity Cheddar departed from Heathrow.

From humble beginnings a year ago, a round of handmade West Country Farmhouse Cheddar maturing live 24/7 on the internet has become a worldwide viewing phenomenon, entertaining over 1.7 million visitors across the globe from Iceland to India and New York to New Zealand.

In November the cheese was auctioned online in aid of BBC Children in Need. The sale raised three times the cheese’s market value and saw Waitrose, Branston Pickle and Pieminister bidding over the odds for the chance to give the internet star a new home. In the end the 44lb traditional Cheddar as won by a winemaker from Marlborough, New Zealand, who, ironically, grew up in Somerset.

Joining thousands of other Air New Zealand passengers flying home this Christmas, Wedginald is travelling 12,000 miles to join the team at Mud House Winery, where they plan to let the traditional Cheddar mature for a little longer before sampling the delicacy with a glass of their own new vintage next year.

Born this time last year Cheddarvision was the brainchild of co-op West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers. “We set up Cheddarvision to let the whole world appreciate just how long it takes to create a perfect-tasting West Country Farmhouse Cheddar. We never thought for a moment that the website would become this popular. The cheese has nearly 1,200 Myspace friends and time-lapse videos of Wedginald’s maturation have been viewed on YouTube 430,000 times” says cheesemaker Tom Calver.

Philip Crawford, chairman of the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers group, explains: “We’re very proud of our cheese. The West Country Farmhouse Cheddar featured is one of just 14 UK products to carry the prestigious Protected Designation of Origin status, ranking it alongside world-famous epicurean treasures such as Champagne, Parma Ham and Cognac. It’s been great to see such an icon of British food get the attention it deserves. We hope Wedginald doesn’t have any problems getting through customs. He has been slowly maturing for 12 months and doesn’t look anything like his passport photo.”

***

food, food podcast, sensuality, Food Philosophy, Culinary Podcast Network, Culinary Media Network, Gilded Fork, Jennifer Iannolo, cheddar cheese, CheddarVision

People's Food Movement

Just got this release from the folks at Dave's Gourmet (he's the guy making the kooky presidential barbecue sauces). Interesting stuff:

COULD YOUR HOME RECIPE BE WORTH $$$$$$?

Do you have a fantastic salsa or salad dressing or cookie recipe that you or a friend makes? The People’s Food Movement would like to turn it into cash for you and them. The People’s Food Movement is a new organization formed by Dave of Dave’s Gourmet, Inc,. It is dedicated to
“Take back your food” from the big food companies by introducing your own items into the food marketplace. The movement borrows from the Long Tail Theory and believes that amongst the millions of food focused people in the world are many possible products that are superior to what big company scientists are currently making.

The Movement was launched in September and already has over 500 members with a goal of 10,000 members within a year. It is free to join and members are eligible to submit products to the movement (over 100 members have already committed to submitting products). The movement evaluates the products for quality, whether it can be safely and economically manufactured, and for marketability. If the product is accepted, it gets launched under one of Dave’s Gourmet’s brands, but bears the logo of The People’s Food Movement on the label. Profits from the sales of these products are split three ways between all the members of the movement, Dave’s Gourmet, and the creator of the product.

Dave’s Gourmet is best known for their insanity hot sauces, salsas, drink mixes, and snacks. They also make Jump Up & Kiss Me Sauces and Dave’s Gourmet organic heirloom pasta sauces. Under their Palette Fine Foods subsidiary they produce exclusive jams, spice rubs, and honeys. Dave has appeared on the Food Network several times, has written a cookbook, Crazy from the Heat – The Dave’s Insanity Cookbook, won dozens of awards and has spoken at Food Conferences. Their website is http://www.davesgourmet.com/ or http://www.peoplesfoodmovement.org/ .



food, food podcast, sensuality, Food Philosophy, Culinary Podcast Network, Culinary Media Network, Gilded Fork, Jennifer Iannolo

Chef Mark in USA Today

The AP published an article today on the growing popularity of personal chefs -- starring our very own Chef Mark. Congratulations!

It appears in the business section of USA Today, but you can see the AP version here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g4aOK0HuId1Q6oWOGzIM5h9Rtf_QD8S5SKFG1

Excerpt below:

Mark Tafoya, who owns the New York-based ReMARKable Palate personal chef service, cooks for regular weekly clients and also offers one-time meal services, such as romantic dinners for two.

Tafoya prepares the meals in the client's home, with the dishes ranging from chicken enchiladas with a green tomatillo sauce to crab lasagna with bechamel sauce.

For regular clients, the week's meals are discussed in advance and are created in accordance with their dietary needs and personal tastes. Organic, vegetarian and kosher options are available and nothing is repeated for six months unless requested, he said.

Tafoya said that by cooking for the same clients over a long time, he's able to develop a kind of intimacy and customization that restaurant chefs just aren't able to.

"I think that when I do hit it off and when they like my food and I understand them and what they like to eat, I can suggest new dishes that they might not have tried before, but I think might be right for them," Tafoya said.

Tafoya said he was drawn to the profession after careers in acting and teaching. He saw it as a way to turn his love of food and cooking into a viable business.

Along with the ReMARKable Palate, Tafoya also is the co-owner and executive chef of The Gilded Fork, an online media company featuring recipes, podcasts and articles and blogs about food.

Tafoya said his typical weekly clients are incredibly busy, career-oriented people who don't have time to cook, but still appreciate a quality meal.



gilded fork, food, food writing, personal chefs, Chef Mark Tafoya

Baker's Edge in the NY Times Style Section!

Well, our pal Matt Griffin continues to sweep the media. The Baker's Edge was featured in today's NY Times Style section in the article "Fire, the Wheel and, of Course, Mop Slippers."

Here is an excerpt (Matt appears on p.2):

In Carmel, Ind., an urban planner and home baker named Matthew Griffin invented a brownie pan that ingeniously makes every brownie have at least two crispy edges. “When we launched it we thought we had a niche product,” Mr. Griffin said. “We liked corner brownies and were trying to create a new market, catering to the edge lover.”

A few small blogs mentioned the pan last fall, [Ed: Um, yes, and a prominent new food site also published the story behind its development, but never mind. :)] and then Boingboing, a popular blog that often touts gadgets, ran an item last month. Traffic to the Baker’s Edge Web site, previously averaging 6,000 hits a month, became as intense as a triple chocolate brownie. “We did 1,000 hits an hour for two weeks,” Mr. Griffin said. His small company is sold out of the $34 pans for now. Next in the development pipeline: an all-edge lasagna pan.

Yes indeed. We can't wait to get them back into the Gilded Fork Boutique. And in fact, you can hear an update about that on the next episode of Food Philosophy, which will be available this evening.

Congratulations Matt!


gilded fork, baking, Baker's Edge, New York Times