The Culinary Institute of America hosted their Leadership Awards dinner at the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan on Thursday. Katie Lee Joel emceed and Dr. Tim Ryan (president of the CIA) hosted. Wolfgang Puck, Alfred Portale, Melissa Kelly, and the Brennan family of New Orleans each recieved awards.
The awards show was also a fundraising effort for a not-for-profit school—through cost of admission, an auction, and ancillary fundraising, one expects they netted needed cash. Still, the school spent money to give the affair an ultra-professional look, with numerous valets and a photographer posted at the entrance. An open bar, featuring a signature pink margeurita-tini, and a flurry of canapés, softened up the crowd. Everyone lingered by the bar despite numerous announcements, musical stings, and flashing of lights. Then the gates between the bar and the banquet room began lowering slowly from the ceiling, causing a few to quip about the imminent danger of being crushed.
Waldy Mouluf and Daniel Boulud were among the quipsters:
Daniel Boulud and Waldy Malouf.
Chef Alison Awerbuch and Chef Phil DeMaiolo were credited first on the menu. (While the classic French based cuisine merits attention, the highlight of the evening was an "intermezzo" of frozen lime mojito presented in a lime wedge. This sharp, salt and pepper sorbet was quite the palate cleanser.)
Katie Lee Joel (Billy Joel's wife) hosted the event, pictured here behind the scenes, consulting her notes and her iPhone:
Katie Lee Joel with iPhone.
Chef Chris Lee, executive chef of Gilt, introduced Alfred Portale, crediting him as a mentor and relating some of his wisdom about the food business. "Most important," Lee quoted Portale about the restaurant, "it's a business." Then Tim Ryan presented Portale with his "Augie," named for Auguste Escoffier:
Portale accepts his "Augie," from Dr. Tim Ryan.
This reporter caught up with Alfred Portale later to snap a candid with Chris Lee:
Chefs Alfred Portale and Chris Lee.
Me to Portale: "How many nights a week are you on the line?" Portale: "Four." "What are you going to do when you retire?" "Make wine."
Next, Chef Larry Forgione introduced Melissa Kelly, chef of the growing empire of Primo restaurants. Kelly is a passionate gardener and practitioner of charcuterie. Between awards, I spoke with her husband Price Kushner about the experience of running multiple restaurants. I got the impression that Kelly has a gentle but very firm hold on her restaurants, employing a rock-solid staff who perform to her specifications, obviating the need for Gordon Ramsay style heavyweight tactics. Central to their philosophy are relationships with local farmers, producers and purveyors.
Chef Melissa Kelly, C.M.C. Dale Miller, and bread man Price Kushner.
Charles Gibson, former host of Good Morning America, introduced chef of the year Wolfgang Puck. Gibson remarked that as a broadcaster, "you gotta be careful with that name." Anecdotes about Puck's randy sense of humor and his skiing abilities prompted chuckles from surrounding tables.
Charles Gibson.
Puck thanked his numerous business associates from Chinois and Spago. His brief but lively speech related a few key points in his culinary career, beginning in Austria in 1963, with stops in the midwest and Los Angeles. While he admitted he hadn't attended the CIA, he testified to its relevance, stating that Paul Bocuse sent his son there.
Tim Zagat (his wife, Nina, in attendance but not at the podium) presented for the Brennan family of New Orleans.
Tim Zagat.
The Brennan family, credited with enormous courage and generosity in post-Katrina New Orleans, were in turn generous with their own praise. Without the cooks and staff not in attendance at the lavish affair, they said, none of them could be there to accept awards.
The Brennan family.
Of course these events are never without their goodie bag of parting gifts. I have to give thanks to Abigail Kirsch of Catering Relationships for a mouth watering bag of caramel-currant-nut popcorn drizzled with dark and white chocolate. And of course the generous Dr. Joel Spiro of Albany, New York, for inviting me to the event.
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