Over the weekend, our good friends Kerry Diamond and Claudia Wu held their 2nd annual Cherry Bombe Magazine -- Jubilee conference at the High Line Hotel in NYC. The space is stunning. (Our pal Billy Reid has also taken over the space a time or two during NYC Fashion Week.)
The annual event is a meeting of the most brilliant female minds – discussing all sorts of topics from food activism, management, modernist cuisine, diet, and change.
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| The room at the Highline Hotel is filled with the most talented female minds in the food world. — View from the stage |
Caroline Randall Williams — daughter of our friend Alice Randall, teacher, author of Soul Food Love, owner of 2,000 cookbooks.
Her mom, Alice, would love to be “the last fat black woman”.
— "One of the best compliments you can get as a black woman is to be called 'thick,' but the way to talk about it... it's not about getting thin. It's about getting healthy."
Padma Lakshmi – mother, television personality, food enthusiast, founder of the EFA.
On the fear of not having the traditional culinary background of her fellow hosts on Top Chef – and fear in general: “Concentrate on what you do know rather than what you do not.”
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| Caroline Randall Williams + Padma Lakshmi |
We have worked with some great modernists – Richard Blais, Sean Brock, John Shields, Kim Floresca and Daniel Ryan, etc. The panel was a dream team of chefs we have long admired.
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| From left: Iliana Regan (Elizabeth), Elise Kornack (Take Root), Dominque Crenn (Atelier Crenn) and Anjana Shanker (Modernist Cuisine) |
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| Snacks — definitely a surprise — lovely diced veggies |
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| Whey — it's here. We sipped this "Skinnier, sassy twin sister to yogurt" courtesy of The White Moustache. |
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| Elizabeth + April Bloomfield |
Chef April Bloomfield plopped down in the seat next to us (yep, the shameless ask for a picture took place) and the convo was all about the Spotted Pig burger – going strong for 11 years. Bloomfield originally wanted to be a police officer. Her “fall back” gig was a chef. Upon being offered the job to open a gastropub in NYC, she asked “Who’s Mario Batali?” Bloomfield’s aim was to not necessarily open a gastropub – she wanted to open a place that served “restaurant quality food in a casual setting”
Gail Simmons: How do you manage when you have so many restaurants and people demanding your time?
April Bloomfield: Uber.
April Bloomfield: Uber.
When asked what childhood favorite dish she would like to bring to one of her menus? "Duck savories."
April's next book drops on April 21st — A Girl and Her Greens: Hearty Meals from the Garden
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| Bobbi Brown + Ina Garten |
A few notable quotes from Ina Garten —
"Someone asked me to endorse a line of fertilizer and I thought, 'Oh, you want me to endorse your shit?!'"
"I hire people who are happy. You can teach people about cheese, but you cannot teach them how to be happy."
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| Chef April Bloomfield, Kerry Diamond, Gail Simmons, Erin Mckenna |
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| Lauren Bush Lauren discussing her FEED Supper Project |
Facts about FEED —
So far, FEED has provided 88 million meals in 8.5 years
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| Elizabeth Karmel, Amy Mills & Elizabeth Moore |
Elizabeth Karmel created CarolinaCueToGo.com, an e-commerce website for
all things BBQ. She is the founding executive chef of Hill Country
Barbecue Market in NYC, Brooklyn and Washington, DC, and NYC and Brooklyn’s
Hill Country Chicken. Thrilled to know her and respect the hell out of
her.
Amy Mills is one of our dearest friends in the business – she is a barbecue heiress, daughter of barbecue legend Mike Mills, and author of the James Beard Award-nominated book, Peace, Love and Barbecue. Her company, OnCue Consulting is amazing.
These ladies have a rock solid boot collection and are sure to
be the best tressed and dressed around any pit.
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| Chills. Mimi Sheraton + Diana Kennedy |
