The BizBash Hors d' Oeuvres House at Skyline Studio

The New York Wine and Food Festival kicked off yesterday with the first opening event held at Skyline studio presented by BizBash. In a large, but with minimalistic decoration space, unpretentious lighting and awesome views from the rooftop, guests experienced the latest trends in canapés and cocktails. Canapés were placed in food stations rather than offered in passing trays, a different experience in cocktail parties.

Sonnier and Castle impressed not only me but also numbers of foodies with their amazingly tasty Hamachi tartare with avocado puree, blood orange, and sesame on crispy flat bread. Their
seared beef sirloin with Danish blue cheese, walnut, watercress, and apple was less exciting but equally notable and well made. I noticed lines in front of Taste. Their Parmesan crisp with prosciutto, mascarpone and sage was striking and in good portion; on the other hand, the braised short rib soft taco with Manchego and tomato relish tied with a chive was the cutest canapé of the night and nicely tasty. Diane Gordon presented its minuscule risotto canapé: it was truffled wild mushroom, pumpkin, Parmesan and sage.

The oddest and unexpected came from Thomas Preti: the chilled Hudson Valley apple soup with the Calvados granite together with the foie gras French toast. I found it "interesting" but it seemed to me that most people had only one plate and then passed.

The cocktails were less inspiring although innovative in paper at least. I am not objective because I tried only one – the pear elderflower cocktail with vodka, pear nectar and elderflower syrup. It was rather sweet for my taste so I quickly changed to champagne, one of my favorites. Guests could try the Spiced apple daiquiri, the Pam Zen or the Daylight Line.

A good start for the Festival with great food, amazing presentation and simple but imposing spaces. Will this be the trend in parties for the year to come?