On Saturday, July 25, the James Beard Foundation
honored restaurateurs Alex von Bidder and Julian
Niccolini and celebrated the 50th anniversary of
the legendary Four Seasons Restaurant at Chefs &
Champagne® New York at the Wölffer Estate
Vineyard in Sagaponack, N.Y. This annual
sumptuous tasting party and fundraiser featured
flowing Champagne, the wines of Wölffer Estate
Vineyard, select Belgian beers which included
Stella Artois and culinary offerings from a
select group of over 30 fine chefs, several from
JBF Award-winning restaurants.
“In 1959 James Beard consulted on the menu for
the opening of the groundbreaking Four Seasons,
the first American restaurant to change its menu
with the seasons,” said Susan Ungaro, President
of the James Beard Foundation. “Half a century
later, the Four Seasons is still the benchmark
against which the finest New York establishments
are compared, an accomplishment due in no small
part to charismatic owners Alex von Bidder and
Julian Niccolini.”
“James Beard filled the role of a favorite
uncle,” said Alex von Bidder and Julian
Niccolini. “He was the consummate teacher and
encouraged us to do our very best and to have a
good time doing it. Jim, as we called him, was
the Four Seasons patron saint, so it is
perfectly natural to support the Foundation in
perpetuating his teachings of enjoying life in a
big way, always.”
Chefs & Champagne® New York is considered the
East End’s premiere culinary event. Funds raised
at the event will help to support the James
Beard Foundation’s mission and programs. A
silent auction which consisted of
once-in-a-lifetime fine dining experiences,
wines and spirits, cookware and culinary travel
packages raised funds for the non-profit James
Beard Foundation.
With a long tradition of supporting culinary
education, the James Beard Foundation announced
the recipient of the Christian Wölffer
Scholarship at the event. Established in 2006,
the scholarship fund supports students in their
study of food and wine.
Participating chefs included:
•
Alain Allegretti, Allegretti, NYC
•
JBF Award Winner Paul Bartolotta, Bartolotta
Ristorante di Mare, Las Vegas, NV
•
Dale Carty, Tasty's Restaurant and the Dune
Preserve Restaurant, Anguilla
•
Rebecca Charles, Pearl Oyster Bar, NYC
•
Maneet Chauhan, At Vermilion, NYC
•
Jeremy Culver, Fulton, NYC
•
George Faison and Marc John Sarrazin,
DeBragga.com, NYC
•
Marc Forgione, Marc Forgione, NYC
•
Amanda Freitag, The Harrison, NYC
•
Pastry Chef Colleen Grapes, The Harrison and
the Red Cat, NYC
•
Eric Hara, The Oak Room, NYC
•
Kerry Heffernan, South Gate, NYC
•
Craig Hopson, Le Cirque, NYC
•
JBF Award Winner Christopher Lee and Pastry
Chef Jennifer Yee, Aureole, NYC
•
Susur Lee and Doron Wong, Shang, NYC
•
Eddy Leroux, Daniel, NYC
•
Pastry Chef Tiffany MacIsaac, Allen &
Delancey, NYC
•
Waldy Malouf, Beacon Restaurant, NYC
•
Julian Medina, Toloache and Yerba Buena, NYC
•
Fred Mero, The Four Seasons Restaurant, NYC
•
Seamus Mullen, Boqueria, NYC
•
Akhtar Nawab, Elettaria, NYC
•
Damien O'Donnell, Harbor Bistro, East
Hampton, NY
•
Pastry Chefs Sandra Palmer and Kiyomi
Toda-Burke, Three Tarts, NYC
•
Missy Robbins and Pastry Chef Jennifer
McCoy, A Voce, NYC
•
Jeff Rogers, Quail Lodge Resort & Golf Club,
Carmel, CA
•
Michael Rozzi, Della Femina, East Hampton,
NY
Champagne sponsors include La Caravelle,
Lanson and Nicolas Feuillatte. Sponsors are
DASANI Essence®; ForbesLife; Gold Peak®;
Plum; Royal Cup Coffee; Stella Artois;
Wölffer Estate Vineyard; WVVH-Hamptons TV®.
Supporters include Chefwear; DeBragga.com;
Owen Brothers Landscape Development; Sag
Harbor Florist; WLIU 88.3FM; Wüsthof. The
V.I.P after party sponsors are Bell & Ross;
Dean & Deluca; emerald monkey, eco luxe
resort & residences; ForbesLife; Winston
Churchill.
Chefs & Champagne® New York Benefit
Committee Members: Ambassador Carl
Spielvogel and Barbaralee Diamonstein;
Christina Grdovic-Baltz and Phillip Baltz;
Elizabeth Blau; Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman,
Jr; Todd Buchanan; Emily Chen and
Christopher J. Carrera; Steve Haweeli; Katie
Lee Joel; Kim and Greg Lippmann; Tracy
McSorley; Jeri and George Sape; Christine
and Stephen Schwarzman; Frederic M. Seegal.
www.jamesbeard.org/chefsandchampagne
About the James Beard Foundation
Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation
is dedicated to celebrating, preserving, and
nurturing America’s culinary heritage and
diversity in order to elevate the
appreciation of our culinary excellence. A
cookbook author and teacher with an
encyclopedic knowledge about food, James
Beard, who died in 1985, was a champion of
American cuisine. He helped educate and
mentor generations of professional chefs and
food enthusiasts. Today, the Beard
Foundation continues in the same spirit by
administering a number of diverse programs
that include educational initiatives, food
industry awards, scholarships to culinary
schools, and publications, and by
maintaining the historic James Beard House
in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a
“performance space” for visiting chefs. For
more information, please visit
www.jamesbeard.org.
Find insights on food at the James Beard
Foundation’s blog Delights & Prejudices.
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Twitter.