6 April 2017 2017 New Jersey Wine & Food Festival Recap

2017 New Jersey Wine & Food Festival Recap

April 6, 2017 By

The 9th annual New Jersey Wine & Food Festival at Crystal Springs Resort that took place last week is officially over. Renowned Chef Daniel Boulud was the Guest of Honor and proceeds benefited Ment’or, a leading nonprofit organization devoted to inspiring culinary excellence in young professionals and preserving the traditions and quality of cuisine in America.

About Friday

Friday night was a food and Krug extravaganza with a cellar dinner by Chef Boulud and his team and a Top Chefs & Top Wines Dinner featuring three chefs from the season of Bravo’s Top Chef that just concluded: Katsuji Tanabe, Silvia Barban and Casey Thompson. Those three popular chefs cooked alongside uber talented Chef Martyna Krowicka of Restaurant Latour and Pastry Chef Miro Uskokovic of Gramercy Tavern. The feedback about both dinners is out of this world with people who attended raving about it.

About Saturday Afternoon

Saturday was fun-filled with various classes and demos. I attended, as a guest of the festival, the Daniel Boulud Foie Gras Challenge where five NJ chefs competes to produce a foie gras dish worthy of Chef Boulud’s approval. The aromas that greeted me as I entered the room were intoxicating and five busy chefs and their teams were busy concocting praise-worthy dishes for judge, Chef Boulud.

After walking around for a few minutes to take in the sights of each participant’s table, I was approached by festival organizers along with Chef Boulud himself to co-judge the event. What? Me? Chef Boulud himself actually asked me – what a thrill! I joined Chef Boulud and a volunteer judge, Meghan Walker, at the judges table to sample dishes from five talented chefs: Ehnren Ryan of Common Lot, Francesco Palmieri of Calandra’s Il Vecchio Café, David Viana of Heirloom Kitchen, Mike Carrino of Pig & Prince and Matt Laurich and the kitchen staff at Crystal Springs.

While all the dishes were creative and delicious, there could only be one winner: Mike Carrino of Pig and Prince with his take on a French traditional foie presentation and a pour of 1941 Courvoisier. 

About Saturday Night

I’ve always been very vocal about what an amazing festival this is and beyond what others in the area can produce. One of the reasons I feel that way if the Grand Tasting on Saturday night.

Some of my favorite bites of the evening (I liked MANY others and didn’t visit all the tables):

Porcelet Head Taco – Felton

David Felton – Natirar/Ninety Acres: Porcelet Head & Shoulder Taco.

Greg Vassos – Brick Farm Tavern: Beef Tartare.

Chris Siversen – Maritime Parc: Octopus a la Plancha.

Phil Deffina – Char Steakhouse: Prime Dry-Aged Strip Steak.

JR Belt – Stage Left: Pork Belly Terrine.

David Viana – Heirloom Kitchen: Octopus Bolognese with Masa Harina.

Josh Bernstein – Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas: Pasta with Preserved Lemon, Fennel and Shrimp.

Rob Ubhaus – Redux: Venison Carpaccio with Shaved Foie Gras.

Leia Gaccione – South + Pine: Burrata with Roasted Baby Carrots, Sunflower Sprouts and black pepper+cardamom vin.

About Sunday

This was the first time I attended the famous Champagne Brunch as part of the festival. Wow, just wow. Chef Anthony Bucco and his talented team pulled no punches with this spread. As soon as we sat down, we were greeted by the always-lovely Sommelier, Susanne Lerescu with a choice of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label or Ruinart Blanc de Blanc Champagne. Ruinart it was for me and my guest. The room, which held the Grand Tasting the evening before, was completely transformed into a beautiful room with various buffet stations and brunch drinks bar. A lot of hard work went into transforming that room from what it was the previous night. While the options were plentiful, we enjoyed the raw/seafood station, the wild mushroom eggs, the breakfast sandwich station and the carving station. The R&B singer was outstanding and entertaining, nice choice.   

I know I’ve written about this in all my yearly recaps of this Crystal Springs event but it’s a must-attend for any wine and food aficionado in the NJ/NY area. Nobody does it better in a more gorgeous setting.

To stay abreast of events at Crystal Springs Resort, sign up for its newsletter or like its Facebook page.

Cheers,

Veronique

Filed Under: Food & Wine Events Tagged With: , , ,

9th Annual Crystal Springs New Jersey Wine & Food Festival

February 2, 2017 By
Grand Tasting - Photo by Crystal Springs

Grand Tasting – Photo by Crystal Springs

Tickets are now on sale for the 9th annual New Jersey Wine & Food Festival at Crystal Springs Resort, taking place March 31 – April 2. This year, we are excited to announce that one of the most celebrated chefs in the world, Daniel Boulud, will be the Guest of Honor. Proceeds benefit Ment’or, a leading nonprofit organization devoted to inspiring culinary excellence in young professionals and preserving the traditions and quality of cuisine in America. 

Weekend Happenings

Friday March 31

SOLD OUT!!! 8PM – Chef Daniel Boulud is an industry legend, with 14 restaurants around the world and numerous James Beard awards to his credit. Daniel and his team will be cooking in the Wine Cellar for what will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience rare vintage wines from the cellar. The dinner includes a Krug Champagne reception with dishes by Crystal Springs Resort Executive Chef Anthony Bucco ($1,000 plus tax and gratuity).

SOLD OUT!!! 8PM – Top Chefs & Top Wines Dinner featuring three chefs from the current season of Bravo’s Top Chef: Katsuji Tanabe, Silvia Barban and Casey Thompson, alongside Chef Martyna Krowicka of Restaurant Latour and Pastry Chef Miro Uskokovic of Gramercy Tavern. ($225 plus tax & gratuity). 

Saturday April 1

10AM – Perfectly Paired Pastries with Chef Jessie Dardar of Le Petit Temptation Dessert Truck ($35).

11AM – A Conversation & Book Signing with Guest of Honor Daniel Boulud – Enjoy a glass of Champagne as Daniel reminisces about his career and signs copies of his cookbooks. ($50, including a copy of either My Best: Daniel Boulud or DANIEL: My French Cuisine).

11:30AM – 1PM – Marketplace Lunch

12PM – The Art of Fresh Pasta with Chef Silvia Barban (Top Chef Season 14) and Aishling Stevens (Crystal Springs), featuring winemaker Ryan Rech of Beringer ($50).

SOLD OUT!!! 1PM – A Taste of Mexico with Chef Katsuji Tanabe (Top Chef Season 14) and Chef Martyna Krowicka (Restaurant Latour) – refined Mexican dishes with beers and spirits from Mexico ($40).

2PM – Create your own Red Blend with Rodney Strong winemaker Justin Seidenfeld ($35).

2PM – Daniel Boulud Foie Gras Challenge – 4 NJ chefs will compete to produce the winning dish as judged by Chef Boulud ($60).

3PM – An Afternoon in Provence – kick off the spring rosé wine season and enjoy Daniel Boulud’s custom smoked salmon, caviar and more ($45).

3PM – Punch Party – learn how to make the perfect party punch and try punches from top NJ bartenders ($35).

3PM – Secrets of the Crystal Springs Wine Cellar with Wine Director Robby Younes – Robby will open rare wines from the award-winning cellar ($150).

4PM – 7X Ranch: The Perfection of Beef – join Chef Anthony Bucco for a discussion of the prized 7X beef and tasting of this rare delicacy ($45).

4PM – Craft Whiskey Spotlight: Widow Jane Distillery – tastings of this award-winning spirit ($40).

7PM – 10PM; Early VIP admission at 6:30PM – The Grand Tasting returns with 30 top NJ and NYC chefs and winemakers from around the world. The VIP experience will feature Daniel Boulud and 5 acclaimed restaurants ($135 regular, $295 VIP). 

10PM – Meet the Chefs & Winemakers After Party guests can party into the night with a DJ, dancing, open bars and more ($150).

Sunday April 2

10AM – 1PM – Champagne Brunch featuring a sumptuous brunch buffet and free flowing Champagne, the perfect capper to the weekend!

Tickets can be purchased at www.njwinefoodfest.com. Rooms can be booked at 855-415-2776.

Hope to see you there!

Veronique    

Filed Under: Food & Wine Events Tagged With: , , , , ,
26 March 2015 Garden State Chef Throwdown at NJ Wine & Food Festival

Garden State Chef Throwdown at NJ Wine & Food Festival

March 26, 2015 By
John Greeley - photo credit Robert Yaskovic

John Greeley – photo credit Robert Yaskovic

This past weekend, I was pleased to have been invited to attend the New Jersey Wine & Food Festival’s first ever Garden State Chef Throwdown. This entertaining, interactive event took inspiration from today’s popular food competition shows for a friendly chef challenge to see who could make the most delicious beef dish.

Bryan Gregg - photo credit Robert Yaskovic

Bryan Gregg – photo credit Robert Yaskovic

 

 

The participants included three of New Jersey’s top chefs, Bryan Gregg of Escape, who made Pave of Beef with huitlacoche, mushroom, Carolina gold rice porridge, Francesco Palmieri of The Orange Squirrel who presented a slow-braised Black Angus Short Rib “Chipped Beef” Slider on sesame brioche with beef marrow mayonnaise and John Greeley of Crystal Springs serving Smoked Brisket with shrimp grits & chimichurri. The chefs’ dishes weren’t known until the competition took place and each dish had to be completed in front of the audience in twenty minutes.

Francesco Palmieri - photo credit Robert Yaskovic

Francesco Palmieri – photo credit Robert Yaskovic

After the audience votes were tallied, the winner of the Throwdown was Crystal Springs Executive Chef Greeley with his Smoked Brisket with Shrimp Grits & Chimichurri. Even with fresh snow outside, Chef Greeley had dared the cold to fire up the smoker in the outdoor Chef’s Garden restaurant to make his brisket.

The event sold out quickly and was a very popular session with the audience and will return at the 2016 NJ Wine & Food Festival.

To be ‘in-the-know’ about the 2016 New Jersey Wine & Food Festival, please visit: www.njwinefoodfest.com

Cheers,

Veronique 

Filed Under: Food & Wine Events Tagged With: , , , , ,