Aspen Peak - Niche Media - Aspen living at its peak
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/681153
As the 34th annual Food & Wine Classic prepares to descend upon town June 17 through 19, Aspen Peak sat down with Nilou Motamed, the newly appointed editor-in-chief of Food & Wine magazine, to discuss Aspen, her first Best New Chefs cycle, and the direction of Aspen's most touted fête. What are your favorite Aspen activities outside of the Classic? I absolutely love the redesign of the Hotel Jerome, and getting a burger at the J-Bar. The Living Room at The Little Nell is phenomenal, and their downstairs café with Jazz Aspen Snowmass is also incredible. What can we expect from the Best New Chefs this year? Daniel Boulud was part of our first class, and there's been Thomas Keller, Barbara Lynch, Nobu Matsuhisa. I remember eating my first pork bun from Best New Chef David Chang at the top of Aspen Mountain. So what can you expect? More of the same! How does the Food & Wine Classic compare to other similar festivals? The Classic is so incredibly tied to Aspen, and it has this feeling of being super exclusive, even with 5,000 people. Aspen has a format and a style that we don't want to mess with too much. Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, June 17–19; foodandwine.com . Newly AppoiNted Food & Wine editor-iN-Chief Nilou MotaMed dishes oN towN's fAvorite foodie festivAl. AN ASPEN CLASSIC PhotograPhy by huge galdones (tent); rebecca stumPf (dish); sven eselgroth (motamed) 60 aspenpeak-magazine.com clockwise from left: The Grand Tasting Pavilion—where attendees sample wines, spirits, and gourmet bites from around the world—is the epicenter of the Food & Wine Classic; Chefs Club, an award-winning Food & Wine restaurant concept located inside the St. Regis Aspen, serves the food (like this wild red snapper with Brussels sprouts) of select Best New Chefs Award winners; Nilou Motamed has attended the Food & Wine Classic for more than a decade. SCENE SCOOP