New York Local and Regional News

It’s getting hot in here and the pressure is mounting. I’m in the kitchen with Jacques P pin and about 20 students who are racing against the clock to complete their stuffed ballotines of chicken. P pin is perspiring and working furiously as he goes from one student to the next, showing each the main steps that he demonstrated twice onscreen already. It is 4:15 on a Saturday afternoon at the French Culinary Institute, and I’m sitting in on a New York magazine-sponsored deluxe weekend of instructional cooking, the New York Culinary Experience, with some of the world’s leading chefs. In addition to Monsieur P pin, fellow F.C.I. deans Andr Soltner (formerly of Lut ce) and Alain Sailhac (formerly of the 21 Club) are sauntering around the room, assisted by six sous chefs, by my count. In two days, the announcement that Gourmet is closing will shock this community, but today we are all blissfully enjoying Food Month.

THE SCOUT: 4 Made-in-New York Sweets for Gift Bags
These locally made desserts come packaged for swag bags and can be delivered to events. 1. Through Sugarbuilt, Amelia Coulter creates artful, intricately iced sugar cookies, often based on decorative art motifs or architecture like the Brooklyn Bridge. Cookie flavors include lavender, chocolate-red chile, bizcochito (anise and cinnamon), and ginger-lemon. Cookies range from $3 to $20 apiece and a minimum of two dozen is required. Custom designed cookies are also available for a $100 fee plus the cost of the cookies.

FRESH FACE: New Caterers Offer Sustainable Food, Hands-On Service
Throughout their careers, Michael Steifman and Kaegan Welch experienced different sides of the catering business. After graduating from the French Culinary Institute, Steifman was the kitchen, operations, and beverage manager for Olivier Cheng Catering and Events. Meanwhile Welch, who also trained at F.C.I., worked as a chef for his own private dining company and at restaurants in Austin, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and New York, including Bouchon Bakery, before joining Olivier Cheng, too. In spite of their different skill sets, the men shared a distaste for the amount of waste generated at events. Looking for a way to be socially responsible and gain more creative and personal freedom, the two formed full-service catering company Stuart & Welch in January.

NEWS: Lincoln Center Taps Former Vogue Planner Wolkoff to Run Fashion Week
Four months after leaving her position as director of special events at Vogue, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff has accepted a job at Lincoln Center as the venue’s director of Fashion Week, Fashion Week Daily reported Tuesday. September 2010 will mark the biannual event’s first time at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park—after 16 years in Bryant Park—and when planning gets underway for the inaugural event, Winston Wolkoff will serve as a consultant on internal and external coordination between Fashion Week’s new home, producers IMG Fashion and the Council of Fashion Designers of America, retailers, and the fashion community at large.

FROM THE EDITORS: The 2009 BizBash New York Event Style Award Winners
On October 15, we posted a list of the nominees for BizBash’s 2009 New York Event Style Awards, which were announced Wednesday at a ceremony following our annual expo at the Javits Center. Here’s more info on this year’s winners. Best Entertainment Program/Concept One Club for Art & Copy’s The One Show Awards Submitted by Overland Entertainment This advertising award presentation had a quirky and comical theme loosely based on the mysteries of the Masons. The program included moody music, mystical iconography, and a spoof bio video about fictional pioneers in the field called “The Ones.” An angry voice-of-God could be heard during the presentation, which culminated with the appearance of a mystery man, who turned out to be actor Fran ois Chau, from the ABC series Lost.

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