Food agenda: El Bulli wine auction
After initially announcing the auctioning off of legendary Spanish restaurant El Bulli's wine cellar, Sotheby's upped the ante by adding a dinner with the master chef at his brother's Barcelona restaurant Tickets. El Bulli shuttered in 2011 at the height of its popularity and now enjoys near mythical status among foodie gourmands. Here are some other major culinary events around the world for the next few weeks.
Sotheby's El Bulli Auction
April 3, Hong Kong; April 26, New York
Legendary Catalan restaurant El Bulli, which shuttered two years ago, is selling off 8,800 bottles from their wine cellar, as well as other El Bulli memorabilia such as chefs' jackets, menus, cutlery sets, bespoke serving and tableware, and a meal prepared by chef Ferran Adrià himself.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2013/so-wine-el-bulli-hk0422/overview.html
6th annual Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival
April 4-7
Pebble Beach, California, USA
A star-studded event, this year’s edition pairs 250 wineries with 75 celebrity chefs for an epicurean event that caters to the gourmand. Big name chefs attending this spring include Daniel Boulud, Guy Fieri and Masaharu Morimoto. This year, Chinese chef Cecilia Chiang will be honored at a tribute event, where Boulud, Tyler Florence and Nancy Oakes will prepare a multi-course meal for the occasion.
http://www.pbfw.com
Winners of International Association of Culinary Professionals awards
April 9
San Francisco, California, USA
The best in English-language cookbooks, culinary journalism and food writing will be honored at the IACP awards. This year, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi’s "Jerusalem: A Cookbook," which explores the diverse cuisines of Jerusalem, leads the awards with three nominations. Unlike the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, which are more international and allow foreign-language titles, all submissions must be in English.
http://www.iacp.com/award
Opening date of Gustu
April 18
La Paz, Bolivia
The co-owner of Noma restaurant in Copenhagen throws open the doors to his next major culinary project in an unlikely location. Claus Meyer opens a dining destination in one of the poorest countries in South America, with the aim of restoring national pride in their disappearing culinary heritage, much in the same way Peruvian celebrity chef Gaston Acurio revived interest in his country’s gastronomy. The kitchen is helmed by Danish and Venezuelan chefs who have worked in Michelin-starred restaurants.
http://www.meltingpot-bolivia.org/gustu-gastronomy-complex/
Diner des Grands Chefs
London, UK
April 22
Luxury hotel group Relais & Chateaux brings its splashy Diner des Grands Chefs to London, where 50 top chefs from 17 countries will celebrate and promote artisanal British ingredients for 600 guests. This year’s theme is “The World’s Kitchen by the Thames.” Previous editions took place in the gilded halls of the Chateau de Versailles in France in 2011, and New York last year. Tickets to the glamorous event are £650 (about $980 USD). Participating chefs include Michelin-starred chefs like Raymond Blanc, Emmanuel Renaut, Helene Darroze and Hiroshi Yamaguchi.
http://www.dinerdesgrandschefs.com/
Le Grand Fooding-Crush Paris-LA
April 26-27
Los Angeles
French gastronomy group Le Fooding takes its culinary festival to Los Angeles, where local celebrity chefs will be paired with their Parisian counterparts in an outdoor picnic to be held in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Geffen Contemporary. Tickets are available at http://www.legrandfooding.com/.
11th annual World's 50 Best Restaurant Awards
April 29
London, UK
Organizers have set a date for the next edition of the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards, which has grown quickly to rival the Michelin system in terms of influence and scope. New this year is an added category, the Sustainable Restaurant Award, which will recognize the most environmentally friendly and socially responsible dining establishment among the 50 winners. For the past three years, Danish chef René Redzepi has kept a hold on the No. 1 position for his Copenhagen restaurant Noma, where he’s credited with pioneering New Nordic cuisine.
http://www.theworlds50best.com/
James Beard Foundation Awards
May 3, May 6
New York
Known as the Oscars of the food world, the James Beard Foundation Awards launches careers for both food journalists and writers and chefs. On Friday, the best in book, broadcast and culinary journalism will be recognized, while the gala event on the following Monday will name the best chefs and restaurants in the US over the last year.
http://www.jamesbeard.org/awards
