a day at the nyc wine & food festival (part 2)

You celebrity gossip junkies, I knew you were just waiting for the famous people photos. Well, here they are. Enjoy them in all of their blurry glory. I kept hoping for a sneak peak of Ms. Martha Stewart, but I think she only popped into the New York City Food & Wine Festival for the Tribute Dinner honoring His Royal Highness Prince Robert of Luxembourg and Jacques Pépin. Figures. Trust me, I checked every food table and booze table in the whole joint, just in case she happened to be lingering around.

There were chef demos all throughout the day at the Grand Tasting. Among them: Giada de Laurentis. Pretty! Kind of like a bobble head, but very pretty and personably. I feel bad only commenting on her looks, but I didn't catch much of the demo so that's all I have to report. This demo was crazy packed so this is the only semi-decent photo I have.

And here's Alton Brown. I like his style. The professorial look never goes out of fashion, not in my opinion at least.

 My bro Jacques Pépin, legendary French chef, pal of Julia Childs and aforementioned honoree at some super-fancy dinner at the NYCWFF. Lots of fun. Believes in drinking wine while you cook. We watched his whole demo and then I stalked him a little outside during his book signing.
  Look who showed up! Ms. Paula Deen, Queen of Butter, made a surprise appearance during his book signing! Isn't she a trip? Lordy.

Ok, not a celebrity, but it ought to be. After the Grand Tasting, we went to Patron Tequila's The Art of the Taco hosted by Bobby Flay. This was an awesome taco. A wild mushroom taco with white truffle and queso fresco from Gotham Bar & Grill.

My camera batteries died right when Bobby Flay made his appearance at The Art of the Taco event, so it is with great pleasure that I present to you a string of creepy, close-range videos I took of him with my Flipcam. Enjoy.

Thus concludes my recap of the 2011 NYC Wine & Food Festival. I have a few more photos and videos over at flickr if you are interested. Thanks to ShopRite for inviting me to be a part of the Potluck blog team :)