Sunday night Brad Pitt and I headed into NYC to attend an invite-only James Beard Foundation event.
Yes. It sounds important and exciting, because it is.
Those of you who are not familiar with the James Beard Foundation, don’t worry. I’m going to clue you in with very brief synopsis. Otherwise, click this link for in-depth information.
JBF is all about food. Good food. Really, really good food. And they have an awards ceremony every year to honor the best-of-the-best in the restaurant world and food media. A James Beard Award is as important in the culinary universe as an Oscar is to the movie stars. A nomination alone is amazing. And winning one? Well, its beyond freaking awesome. When traveling, I always search for the local JBF nominees and base our restaurant choices on spots that have received nominations, because you’re pretty much guaranteed to have an amazing meal and experience.
I’m going to brag a little bit for a second, so bear with me ….
Brad Pitt has been nominated twice and won once in a journalism category.
SQUEEEEEE!!! That is huge, people! We have a Beard award framed and hanging in our dining room!! I don’t know where people like Meryl Streep keep their Oscars, but we definitely have the Beard award in a spot where we can admire it. Daily. It was a huge accomplishment.
And the awards ceremony. Oh me, oh my. It is awesome. You figure everyone is there to celebrate the best food and chefs in the nation, so everything that is served is amazingly delicious. And if you have crushes on food celebs, the people watching and mingling around is great fun.
We did not attend the awards ceremony this year, but we did accept the invitation to the Chef’s Night Out party on Sunday night. Attendees roamed around Todd English’s Food Hall at the Plahhhhhzaahhhh Hotel (Oh, you think you’re fancy, huh? Well. Yes. You are fancy if you’re at the Plaza.) And everyone ate and drank and ate and drank all night. Every nook and cranny of the food hall had something special to offer. I lost track of everything I had that evening – decadent sandwiches of lamb salami & goat cheese, savory crepes, sushi, caviar, champagne, cocktails, etc etc – but I took a lot of pictures. (Including a self-created Todd English Photo Bomb. I had to do it.)
If you already follow me on Instagram, a couple of these are repeats. Sorry. But many are not, so check it out…..
I would have labeled each photo, but like I said earlier, I can’t remember everything I had. So you’ll just have to feast your eyes on the images and use your own imagination. Ahhhh. Cheers to the Beards!
PigTales 