Every year, I want to attend an event at the NYC Wine & Food Festival, and every year I talk myself out of it. It's a bit pricey and sells out quickly. Well, when I got an e-alert this year for the festival, and I saw that my (imaginary) chef boyfriend Geoffrey Zakarian would be hosting an event at the Lambs Club, I was IN! I could finally get to the Lambs Club, taste the chef's food and participate in the NYC Wine & Food Festival! The trifecta!! :)
The Lambs Club is lovely, very warm and comfy, yet plush. The room where the event, Hot Cocktails, took place also had a gorgeous fireplace designed by Stanford White (if I heard Boyfriend Geoffrey's incredibly lovely wife correctly). It was nice to hear a little bit about the room, though it made me giggle to hear how shocked the rest of the crowd were to hear about how Stanford White died. Clearly, no one in that room has ever seen Ragtime. :)
I sat next to a very nice couple from Arizona, who save their money all year and come to New York for this festival. They were excited to be seeing Boyfriend Geoffrey (hereafter known as BGZ) today, and then later they would be seeing Tyler Florence. I don't know if I could take a whole event with Tyler Florence. He is certainly handsome, but his voice...not so much.
BGZ, unsurprisingly, is charming and delightful. Duh. I choose boyfriends very carefully, you know. But he was a very good teacher, explaining why they chose the particular ingredients for each drink and each nibble. He's quite passionate about making sure recipes are easy for the home cook, and he also is very definite about using as much local product as possible. His co-host, Chef Eric Haugen, was also charming and an excellent teacher. I learned quite a bit and took a lot of notes during the 90 minute presentation.
First up was Hot Mulled Wine, which was delicious, well-balanced with spice and fruit and warmth. Very yummy. And listening to BGZ's explanation of how to make it cleared up why I can't make good mulled wine. I cook it at too high a temperature. I won't be doing that anymore. The mulled wine was served with crispy duck rillettes topped with pickled onions and mulled wine gel. OK, I know, I pretend to be a vegetarian, but I had to give the duck a try. One, hello, it was duck. But also, how can you tell about a food and wine pairing if you don't taste the food? I wanted to taste how the wine changed by eating the duck. And it did! When I first tasted the mulled wine, it was full and rich, but not sweet at all (by design). But after a taste of that wonderful duck, the wine achieved a little bit of sweetness. Food and wine pairings always amaze me. So eating the duck was a food experiment. A very successful food experiment. But I didn't eat it all, much to the chagrin of the nice couple next to me. :)
While we were tasting and sipping, BGZ also answered questions from the crowd, ranging from good recipes for sous vide chicken, the worst dish he'd ever had on Chopped, what wines he would recommend for a dinner party, what percentage of bittersweet chocolate should go in hot chocolate. Again, lots of notes.
Next came a Hot White Russian. You may remember I gave up vodka a few years ago after the Great Candy Cane Martini Nightmare, but I figured I could do a little bit today. After all, I just ate duck!! The drink had vodka, kahlua, a bit of hot espresso and some cream, that was shaken just a bit to give it a thicker consistency. This was also a yum yummy drink, very creamy and potent. It would be good for a dessert. If you drink vodka, I mean. It was paired with a housemade espresso-cured bresaola, on housemade rye toast, with choucroute and Russian dressing. Again, meat. My oh my, it was delicious. Chef Eric described it as a play on a reuben, to keep on the 'Russian' theme. The crunch was very welcome with the creaminess of the drink, and the vinegary choucroute paired so well with the richness of the drink. Another wonderful pairing! 
The third drink was Brandy Tea. A bit of brandy, a deliciously full-bodied tea, and a touch of honey. Really wonderful. The balance of sweet, bitter and brandy was really great. I generally prefer my tea a little darker, but the mash-up in this drink was perfect. I asked if it could work with stronger tea and Chef Eric explained how it could work. He was really well-spoken and made everything so easy to understand. Now, note to self - when you ask a question at a food and cocktail tasting, you should not ask a question about the third drink. it was getting quite loud in the room by this time and BGZ had sort of lost his authority. Everyone was a tiny bit buzzed and just talking to each other and not in their indoor voice. I would've preferred to hear more from the two chefs, but oh well. At least I got to eat the fantastic dessert they paired with the tea. It was a hazelnut dacquoise, sitting on a praline, with chantilly cream. I totally could've eaten that little delight all day. It had everything - richness, lightness, sweetness, creaminess and crunch from the praline crust. SO good. 
All in all, it was a terrific afternoon, with handsome chefs, helpful tips and delicious food and drink. Thumbs WAY up from me. I'll have to do more events at next year's festival (almost everything is sold out for the rest of this year's events). Oh, and I was thrilled to get my BGZ cookbook signed and a photo. He was quite charming and kind (of course), but unfortunately, they were trying to rush him out to his next event, so my little chat was cut short and the photo is blurry. Oh well. Next year. Must.have.good.photo.with.imaginary.boyfriend.someday...
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