Fancy Food Show

It's just a quick posting to give you a taste (literary) of what will follow. Plenty of food, new products, food trends and international bites...are all on your way.

Stay tuned!

Tillie's opening reception

As a Brooklynite, I am always present at Tillie's cafe painting opening receptions that come together with a happy crowd and plenty of wine, cheese and fruit. This coming Wednesday, July 1st, there will be the opening reception for Virginia Wagner's paintings.

This is what she says about her work:

The ponds, tree hollows, and icebergs in my paintings are my internal wilderness projected onto the external world. As an artist, I seek the intersection of myth and reality. The stories at these crossroads are distanced from real events to allow for critical analysis even as they address the psychological core of those events. In telling a story I often manipulate and distort the real, using lenses of fantasy, dream and theater. In this way I aim at the emotional rather than the historical truth. The moments where surreal elements disrupt daily reality are a source of continual inspiration. It is where myth meets mundane that the potential for the fantastic is the greatest, and my fears, desires and questions are able to play out on a fictional stage.

The realist imagery in my work is important to grant the viewer access to the scene, allowing them to assume the role of the lead character, or the shadowy figure lurking in the corner. Similarly, I use beauty to engage the viewer and suspend him or her in the piece. Beauty raises the stakes -- heightening the contrast between the seductive and the darker elements of life and art.

Where: Tillie's cafe, 248 DeKalb Avenue, Blooklyn, 11205

When: Wednesday, 7.1 starting at 7pm.

Cigar smoker event

If you are a keen cigar smoker, join The Carnegy Club tonight from 7pm. Details if you click on the picture.

Have fun together with a cigar or two!

BAG opening reception

Don't miss the new BAG opening Stand at Attention reception this Friday, June 26th at 6pm.

Stand at Attention is a new collection of work by Irish artist Réamonn Byrne. Formations of linear drawings in ink, pencil and paint on paper resemble groups of documents or blueprints in that they present distilled information, reduced to line and accents of paint. Each batch forms a cohesive visual whole, yet the eye lays focused on a single piece at a time, exploring the individual's minute responses as attention flutters amongst the frames. These simple structures pose questions about how narrative is constructed and how we process visual information.

In this body of work the artist takes this format and turns it on himself. Members of the Irish Brigade of the American Civil War are depicted throughout the work, surely heroes in that pivotal time for their new nation. It is in this posse that the artist places himself introspectively against his peoples historic endeavors. Ambivalence becomes evident in this exploration of identity as the artist gnaws at both his own and the collective psyche.

Memory and its ritualized forms also figure in the work as the artist plays with the notions of the eulogy and the memorial. The cathartic nature of such ceremony is echoed through the work as the self struggles to reconcile with its own ever changing perception of the greater whole.
Réamonn Byrne lives and works in Brooklyn. He is a product of the Crawford College of Fine Art, Cork, Ireland.

Where: BAG, 168 7th Street, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11215
phone: 718.858.9069
email: info@brooklynartistsgym.com

Fun party supplies

Summer is almost here and if you are planning your BBQs and other parties in the garden or on the beach, here is a cool accessory: Colorful Ice Cream Cones. Those colorful melamine cones are guaranteed never to go stale. You can even scoop your summer’s favorite item into the reusable holders, which come with an acrylic stand and four plastic spoons.

So, you can do both at once, being environmental friendly and also adding some color to your party.

Check out http://www.plumparty.com/ for a number of fun and weird party inventions.

BoConcept Photographer's event and reception

Join Shaokao Cheng and Patrick McMullan for a group photographers group exhibition as they host the opening reception, this Wednesday, 6.24 from 6pm at BoConcept, Chelsea at 144W, 18th street (between 6 and 7th avenues).

RSVP at: rsvp@boconceptny.com.

A taste of Greece

The large sphere promoting Athens traveled from Berlin to Paris and London and to New York with final destination the city of Chicago. It was an initiative of the Greek National Tourism Organization (known as EOT) which commissioned Events Architects (the same that organized the Obama inauguration), one of the top event management firms in the USA to create this massive happening. Well-placed at the Plaza of the World Financial Center in New York, where I had the chance to experience it, the weather wasn't always a great helper. The sphere was open from 9am to 7pm and visitors had the change to view the movie projected and to sign up for a free trip to Athens. Outside, at the cafe area, guests tasted savory snacks as spinach pie and meatballs and desserts, the very sweet baklava and honey cookies. There was also a press conference, open only to members of the press and travel agencies who enjoyed the reception with Greek white and red wines, and canapes that included filo stuffed caviar mousse, spicy feta cheese dip and eggplant dips!

Once again I witnessed that free food is the best thing for promotion. Give them free food and they will come, as the PR motto says. Hopefully, they will fly to Greece too.

Chocolate Bar event at Henri Bendel

Chocolate Bar at Henri Bendel presents the "Endless Summer" Surf Soiree at Chocolate Bar! Join for the launch of Joe Freeman’s Old Soul Surfboards and the opening of a new surf photography exhibition from Matt Schwartz’s She Hit Pause Studios

When: Monday, 15 June 2009, 6-8PM

Where: Chocolate Bar at Henri Bendel, 712 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor Atrium. Enjoy beverages & beach bites. Enter to win one of She Hit Pause’s new surf prints, Surf lesson’s from Old Soul Surfboards, a box of sweets from Chocolate Bar, a gift certificate to Chocolate Bar Long Beach Island and more.

RSVP to http://rose@workhousepr.net

Dan Winters at Aperture gallery

On the occasion of the publication of Dan Winters's first monograph, Periodical Photographs, Aperture Foundation is pleased to present an evening with this top editorial photographer, who has contributed to some of America's most prestigious magazines, including New York, Esquire, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times Magazine. With an emphasis on his iconic portraiture, Periodical Photographs considers the body of work of a photographer whose unique sensibility is both adaptable and instantly recognizable. The book includes Winters's definitive portraits of some of Hollywood's most photographed A-listers (Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslett, Denzel Washington, and Leonardo DiCaprio) and music superstars (Bono, Eminem, and Willie Nelson). His voracious passion for the quirky and creative also draws him to visual artists, scientists, architects, and everyday, extraordinary Americans. One of the last additions to the book is a portrait of President Barack Obama taken in San Antonio, Texas, in March 2008 for Time magazine. Designed by Scott Dadich, award-winning creative director of Wired magazine, and with a preface by Lynn Hirschberg, editor-at-large at New York Times Magazine, Periodical Photographs showcases a photographer at the top of his game.

Thursday, June 11, 2009
6:30 pm
Aperture Gallery, 547 West 27th Street, 4th floor (between 10th and 11th Avenues)

Real Pilates Summer Party

Don't miss the Real Pilates party and Summer Send Off. Be at Real Pilates on Wednesday, June 10th from 6 - 8pm for food, wine, raffles, and Lululemon Giveaways. Test drive the latest in fitness technology - and take 30 of the country's top trainers with you on your summer vacation.

RSVP to info@realpilatesnyc.com, Real Pilates, 177 Duane St New York, New York 10013

Interview with BITE Food

Founders of catering company BITE Scott Skey and Nick Hosea answered kindly my questions satisfying my curiosity. Scott did the writing.

FB: How you came up with BITE?

BITE: Our first decision was to work together - whatever project we came up with - based mostly on the compatibility of our divergent but complementary restaurant backgrounds. We decided against the obvious choice - opening a restaurant - in favor of the relative freedom of culinary event production, as we were drawn by the challenge of continually changing projects.
Nick's focus has always been pastry, and his NYC experience has been in high visibility/volume restaurants (Nobu, Mesa grill, Bolo). Mine has been in "savory" (meats, fish, veg, sauces) in very small, mostly ultra-luxe places (March, 9 jones, Caviar Russe).

FB: What’s your favorite canapé from BITE?

BITE: Needless to say, we don't have a favorite (like picking a favorite child). Furthermore, an exciting thing about event menu design is that no canapé has the exact same resonance in different settings, so a canapé we might find perfect for one occasion may play lackluster in another.

We do, however, have signature canapés that transcend season and setting. On the savory side, our "tartare of wagyu beef" is a consistent favorite. Of the petits fours, we serve the bite "mallomars" (ancho caramel ganache, cocoa macaroons, dark chocolate glaze) at every event we do.

FB: Who is your ideal client?

BITE: Our ideal clients (we have a lot of them) have the confidence to simply let us do what we do - and, importantly, the grace to make their guests feel honored and welcome.

FB: Come summer, what you should be serving?

BITE: Summer flavors are huge - ripe, raw and lurid. Summer is the season for extravagant spicing, super tropicals, charred meats and tons of fresh herbs. The touchstones are corn, peaches (and all stone fruits), melons and (late summer) heirloom tomatoes.

FB: A high-quality catering company will have to certainly offer….

BITE: Intelligent - and truly customized - menu design.

FB: What is your culinary secret?

BITE: It's not really a secret, but Nick and I try to include an umami component in almost every dish - be it high grade soy, Parmesan, miso, sun-dried tomato... Also fresh herbs are essential to bringing a dish to life - we always define a dish in terms of the lead herbal note and never repeat it elsewhere in the menu.

FB: Your favorite tastes?

BITE: I love steak and organ meats (sweetbreads, marrow, kidneys). Nick is crazy about pasta and bread. And candy.

FB: And favorite drink?

BITE: We both love raw spicy ginger juice, and use it in almost all our cocktails.

FB: What you don’t like to cook?

BITE: Nick hates salmon.

FB: 3 favorite must- haves in the cupboards of BITE are:

BITE: Japanese soy, candied ginger and sherry vinegar

FB: Your next step will be to…

BITE: We may open a pastry boutique in the next couple of years - but bite will always remain a compelling and rewarding challenge.

FB: And finally, what is your favorite gastronomic destination?

BITE: Neither of us have one right now - sorry.

Bite Food, bite@bitefood.com, 917 676 1320

http://www.bitefood.com/

Invite your friends

If you had enough with electronic invitations and you want to take a break from your regular evite.com during the summer, there is a colorful paper solution. Tiny Prints offers a great choice of invitations including the very cool summer party invitations to impress your guests. You can also find invitations for Grownup party (!), Bridal shower, Graduation and even Pet and Dog invitations if you plan to organize a party for your dogs and cats!

Tiny Prints lets you select your preferred font and text color, and they allow you to update the text on their designs to suit any theme you select.

Have a look at the summery website by clicking at http://www.tinyprints.com/shop/summer-party-invitations.htm.

Fullybooked loves the Beach Umbrella and Corn Cobs and the Hanging Hammock.

It feels like summer!

Show Snapshots and Interior Design Magazine‏

Join on Thursday, June 4 at Davis & Warshow SoHo for a look back at the top trends, products and innovations from K/BIS 2009 with Interior Design editor Mark McMenamin!

To reserve, please RSVP to: dwevent@veederperman.com

Where: 96 Spring street @ Mercer, 3rd Floor from 6pm.