Anniversary Party of the Year - Celebrating a wall-to-wall gathering of singular talents, Food Arts' founders bestowed the magazine's coveted Silver Spoon Awards from the same podium as they did 10 years ago. Diana De Cicco reports.
Food Arts celebrated its 20th anniversary in September with a black-tie gala dinner featuring "New York's Young Masters of World Cuisines." Hosted by Marvin R. Shanken, chairman of M. Shanken Communications, and Michael and Ariane Batterberry, founding editors/publishers of Food Arts, the celebration honoring Food Arts Silver Spoon award winners for sterling performance unfolded in the newly renovated Plaza hotel. The evening brought together an amazing assemblage of legendary chefs and industry luminaries, each of whom have made major contributions in their fields. Silver Spoon award winner Liz Neumark, whose Great Performances, in partnership with Delaware North, is the exclusive caterer for all Plaza private events, helped coordinate the evening with CPS Events and contributed vodka/tomato shooters and trays of relishes from her organic farm.
Festivities began in the Centennial Foyer with Perrier-Jouet Brut Champagne Fleur de Champagne Belle Epoque 1999, hors d'oeuvres, and the Anne Burden string quartet from The Juilliard School and progressed to the Grand Ballroom for a seated dinner for 300 guests. Following an awards ceremony during which each Silver Spoon winner of the last 10 years received an engraved Christofle spoon, the crowd was dazzled by a virtuoso performance by concert violinist Stefan Milenkovich. The grand finale was an extravagant dessert buffet.