|
Event Location:
Wölffer Estate
139 Sagg Rd., Sagaponack, NY
Saturday, July 14, 5:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.
Members $150, guests $200
For reservations or more information, please call (212) 627-2308.
It’s July, and everyone who likes to eat and pays attention
to things like the Hamptons social calendar knows what that means:
Chefs & Champagne is upon us. What’s different this year
is that the event falls on July 14, Bastille Day. And if any industry
is indebted to La République, it is ours. To commemorate
the French Revolution of American cooking—not to mention the
glorious summer season on eastern Long Island—we are bringing
you a celebration of French chefs cooking in America (and American
chefs cooking French food) at the lovely Wölffer
Estate. Our guest of honor is none other than the woman
who forged the way for this French culinary uprising, Julia
Child, the French Chef. As always, New York socialite,
Food & Wine contributing editor, and Beard Trustee Nina
Griscom is chairing the event. To paraphrase Marie Antoinette,
Let them drink Taittinger Champagne!
Child may just be the most famous and beloved culinary personality
the United States has ever produced. She was born in Pasadena, California,
graduated from Smith College in 1934, and after a brief stint in
advertising, set off to work with the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS) in Washington, D.C., Ceylon, and China. After the war, in
1948, her husband, who was also in the OSS, was assigned to the
American Embassy in Paris, and that’s where she discovered
the wonders of the French kitchen. Her breakthrough was the publication
by Knopf of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which Child
wrote with Simone Beck and Louisette
Bertholle. In October of 1961, James
Beard wrote to his friend Helen Evans
Brown, "I think the Knopf French book is wonderful."
Later that year, in December, Beard wrote Brown: "Lunched with
Julia and Paul Child and Mme. Beck at the Four
Seasons on Thursday, with a tasting of winter things
for the new menu…I adore both women, and Paul came to life."
In the 40 years since, Child has become an icon to chefs and home
cooks alike. Her television shows, her books, her involvement in
organizations like The James Beard Foundation, the American Institute
of Wine & Food, and the International Association of Culinary
Professionals, and her myriad appearances have inspired legions.
We are grateful to be sharing an afternoon in the Hamptons with
her.
SPECIAL
THANKS TO:
Title Sponsor: Taittinger Champagne
Host: Wölffer
Estate
Sponsors: Chambord, French Waterways, Torrefazione
Italia, Williams-Sonoma
Supporters: Air France, Chef Revival USA, DeBragga
& Spitler, Henckels Knives, Park Avenue Caterers, The Perrier
Group |
