Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/67357
MOOD OF FOOD The ultimate finale: The Classic Cook-off wraps up the weekend. Pictured here are chef Jacques Pépin and host Sissy Biggers. continued from page 76 Lagasse, Tom Colicchio, Danny Meyer, Jacques Pépin, Michael Symon, Ming Tsai, and more, leading in excess of 80 cooking seminars and demon- strations. Special events will include fireworks (weather and fire ban Today the Classic is the Oscars for food and wine professionals. permitting); a late-night dessert party with Gail Simmons, host of Top Chef: Just Desserts; a 5K charity race through downtown Aspen, hosted by Bobby Flay; and a celebratory 30th anniversary benefit concert and party at the Aspen Music Festival Benedict Tent, with music by Elvis Costello & The Blue Beguilers, and dinner by Batali, José Andrés, and Michel Nischan. Finally, opening in June and sure to leave a lasting legacy in Aspen is Food & Wine's first venture into the restaurant business. An exclusive agreement with The St. Regis Aspen resort ushers in Chef's Club by Food & Wine, a restaurant that will showcase the culinary talent of the magazine's premier award, its Best New Chefs. Opening in conjunction with the start of the Classic, the new eatery will feature a rotating, biannual menu curated by select chefs. Ray Isle, Food & Wine's executive wine editor, along with St. Regis Aspen sommelier LeeAnn Kaufman, will pair wines with the dishes, while renowned mixologist and Food & Wine contributing editor Jim Meehan will create a signature and seasonally inspired cocktail menu. The Classic has become the most distinguished food and wine festival of its kind—the first, the best, "the granddaddy of them all." But before it set the standard, it started where so many great stories do: with humble beginnings. Three decades ago, summers in Aspen were quiet. A little too quiet, it turns out, for Gary Plumley, who was (and still is) part owner of the Hopkins Avenue wine and spirits store Of Grape & Grain. Through his connections, and with the support of Snowmass res- taurateurs Bob and Ruth Kevan, Plumley organized the first Aspen/ Snowmass International Wine Classic in 1983. Sponsored by American Industry insiders, consumers, and media mingle inside the Grand Tasting. Express, the event featured 22 wineries from around the country, and the response in town was enthusiastic. Over the next couple of years, the festival increased in popularity, but so did Plumley's debts. Although hosting the festival cost less than $20,000 annu- ally, organizers were more than $60,000 in the hole. So they sold the festival to the Aspen and Snowmass continued on page 80 78 ASPENPEAK-MAGAZINE.COM The Classic's iconic Grand Tasting Tent graces Wagner Park. GRAND FINALE, GRAND COCHON Want more? When the Classic closes, Grand Cochon begins. Each year Cochon 555 embarks on a 10-city culinary competition and tasting tour for which chefs are selected to prepare a "snout-to-tail" menu created from heritage breed pigs. The 10 winners of each regional event are flown to Aspen for the final competition, Grand Cochon, this year held at the Hotel Jerome on June 17. The event includes more than 30 chef dishes, butcher demos, reserve wines, beer, artisan cocktails, pig-infused desserts, and an award ceremony. The winning chef will be chosen by the audience and a panel of 20 expert judges. cochon555.com The Grand Cochon plate by Brad Farmerie, of New York's Public Restaurant. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GETTY IMAGES (PÉPIN, GRAND TASTING)