While Food & Wine's mission is to present on-trend stories about food and beverage personalities, dining and imbibing hot spots, and travel destinations, the subjects came to life—more than ever before—at the 36th annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, held June 15 to 17 with 5,000 attendees.
The event's strategy "is all based on what our editors are identifying as new trends, and implementing more of our editorial content within new events," said Diella Allen, the magazine's marketing event coordinator.
To kick off the sold-out weekend, Friday-night’s Fiesta de Peru was a joint partnership with both the Trade Commission of Peru, as well as the Food & Wine editors. “Peru is an amazing culinary destination, and [this year], Food & Wine covered why Peru has never been a better place to eat,” said Allen. “Our editors are really excited about it; the food is a spectacular mix of traditional and modern, and we wanted to bring that cuisine, and more information, on this destination.”
From a meet-and-greet with alpacas after guests exited the gondola to endless ceviche and cultural cocktails, to giveaways of bags with Nazca Lines motifs with Peruvian chocolate bars inside, the event was all-things Peru.
Another clear connection to the magazine's editorial was having new editor in chief Hunter Lewis participate in a seminar. He joined longtime mentor Jonathan Waxman, whom he worked under at Barbuto, for a session called A Bird in Hand: Chicken the Obi-Wan Waxman Way.
“This might be the first time we have had an editor in chief who worked in a kitchen in a professional way,” Allen noted.
At the Best New Chefs area within the Grand Tasting, the magazine's picks for top young talent had one significant change among the 10 honorees. “With more females than males in this year’s Best New Chefs, it’s exciting to see seven women in attendance—showcasing and cooking,” Allen said. Jess Shadbolt and Clare de Boer from King in New York served an artichoke soup, while Lady of the House’s Kate Williams, from Detroit, had one of the most photographed dishes: the lamb tartare Detroit coney.
A more in-depth play on the Best New Chefs came Saturday night at the 30th Anniversary Food & Wine Best New Chefs Dinner, which invited six past recipients to present a five-course meal. The lineup included Rocco DiSpirito (1999), Hugh Acheson (2002), Rick Bayless (1988), Stephanie Izard (2011), and Traci des Jardins and Elizabeth Falkner (both 1995). The dinner was paired with a roster of Chateau d’Esclans rosé pours.
“We decided to host this dinner to celebrate the alumni Best New Chefs from throughout the years, in collaboration with the editorial team, as something fun to do to celebrate that platform,” said Allen.
Course highlights included Bayless’s standout polenta-style Tamal Colado infused with foie gras, Oaxacan yellow mole, roasted chanterelle mushrooms, young turnip, and fennel and Izard’s crispy beef short rib with salted caramel and rhubarb-pickle relish. On top of white linens and simple table settings sat a surprise keepsake, the navy-blue dinner menu, which featured the silver signatures of all six chefs.
Another of the magazine's franchises, Restaurants of the Year, saw its expression in the Farewell Feast. Held at the newly renovated Hotel Jerome, the event encouraged guests to explore the property by scattering chef stations from top restaurants from around the country throughout the ground floor. Notable plates included chicken liver donuts from the Grand Café in Minneapolis, oxtails and Florida rice from Seattle's JuneBaby, and a twist on the patty melt dubbed the "party melt" from Better Luck Tomorrow in Houston. Scattered rose petals along the bar were the setting for Aria’s featured rose-infused vodka cocktail, the Aspen Cup, which made for a fitting sendoff toast to the weekend.
The 36th annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen set up its Grand Tasting tents with a lush Aspen Mountain backdrop.
Chilled shrimp cocktail with a pepita crunch from Top Chef contestant Fatima Ali was among the dishes at the St. Regis Welcome Party.
Patron's ceramic, stemless glasses were filled with the tequila brand's signature cocktails throughout the classic.
Patron created spiked tiki ice pops in different flavors to accompany the brand’s tequila tiki theme for the festival.
Cork Muralist Scott Gunderson worked on a live art installation for #SPGAmEx at the Grand Tasting sessions throughout the weekend.
At the Grand Tasting, Food & Wine Best New Chef of 2018 Kate Williams of Detroit's Lady of the House served Lamb tartare Detroit coney bites.
Inside the Grand Tasting, an Aria blackjack dealer encouraged attendees to play to win a free stay at the Las Vegas resort and casino. Players were only allotted one hand per tasting session.
Jean-Georges Vongerichten prepared peppercorn-lacquered wagyu brisket for the Grand Tasting, a representation from Jean-George’s Steakhouse at Aria. The dish featured northwest greening apples, a strain native to Colorado, which he specifically chose for his Aspen showcase.
Delysia Chocolatier of Austin, Texas, erected a “State of the Union” chocolate display at the Grand Tasting that nodded to current political events such as the proposed border wall and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Truffle flavors included fried chicken, nacho, guacamole, and tahini baklava.
A section dubbed “American’s Southern Border Wall” was made of chocolate bricks from ghost pepper to mango curry to mojito. Attendees were encouraged to "tear down the wall" with each sample.
At the Grand Tasting, attendees could write a tribute to Anthony Bourdain on a board with the logo of Brasserie Les Halles, where Bourdain had worked as executive chef. At the two now-closed locations of the restaurant in New York, his fans left photos, notes, flowers, and other items in honor of the chef and television personality, who died earlier this month.
The Best New Chefs 30th Anniversary Dinner featured simple tables with light linens and florals, accented by navy blue menus.
Menus doubled as keepsakes at the Best New Chefs Dinner featuring all of the participating chefs' signatures in silver paint markers.
Chefs, sommeliers, and others gather for a group shot at the Top of the Mountain Party: Fiesta de Peru.
Alpacas greeted and posed with guests off the Snow Queen gondola at Fiesta de Peru.
The Yacht Dog, homemade spam katsu on a King's Hawaiian bun from Ravi Kapur of San Francisco's Liholiho Yacht Club, was a popular bite at the AmEx Trade summer luau luncheon.
SPG AmEx treated guests to freshly cracked coconuts outside of the St. Regis on Friday and Saturday at the Revive & Shine Coconut Bar.
Coconuts had brand messaging and hashtags imprinted on them.
Clever food- and drink-theme signs such as "Running for that Six Pack" motivated runners at the festival's 5K charity run.
Tyler Florence prepared summer corn pudding with Mendocino Uni and caviar from his platform on the KitchenAid demo stage.
JuneBaby—named one of Food & Wine's Restaurants of the Year for 2018—served hearty oxtails with Florida rice at the Farewell Feast. The Seattle restaurant from chef Edouardo Jordan also picked up the award for Best New Restaurant at the James Beard Awards in May.
Chef Jamie Malone's Grand Café in Minneapolis—another one of the magazine's Restaurants of the Year—presented chicken liver donuts that were a rich, bite-size treat at the Farewell Feast.
Red Red Wine merlot and chocolate donuts at Wine at the Mine, a collaboration from Denver-based HotBox Roasters and Infinite Monkey Theorem, headlining sponsor of the Saturday night event.
During the evening portion of Wine at the Mine, there was a silent disco held inside a tent.
