A look back at Sex & The City premiere parties and James Beard connections in NYC

SEX AND THE CITY PARTIES…brought Big Apple fun to the Mini-Apple this summer when the much awaited movie version of “Sex and the City” made a move into town with a series of screening/premiere parties too. As Rachel Ray might say, “How much fun is that?” Well, lots of fun. I can tell you from the two parties I peeked in on—the Happy Hour cocktail party on the terrace at the California Café at Mall of America, to the downtown glamorous nighttime setting with a bubbling fire pit pond and party on the patio at Bellanotte.

Oodles of Twin Cities ladies of every age, single or not, from mothers to grandmothers, came out to sample cocktails and fun food before they headed up to the movies. At the Mall, they designated the happy hour, hosted by FM107 radio DJs Lori and Julia, as the kickoff for sexy fun before the show, all in memory of their visit to the Big Apple and the fame they acquired with their sexy Body Perks. Patty Swaney, GM of the California Café really surprised them with some of her own witty and naughty salutes to this much loved TV show, from the classic cosmos to unique mini chicken burgers, complete with a toothpick post-it note—similar to the chicken burger Carrie’s boyfriend left her when he broke off their relationship, saying, “I’m sorry, I can’t—don’t hate me.”

The biggest surprise? The sexy frosted pink cupcakes topped with a little red dot candy. They looked like the famous Body Perk Nipples create by Lorie and Julia, which were featured in a 2001 episode of Sex and the City. A real winner! Patty also had the servers wearing the classic I Love NY T-shirts.

Down at Bellanotte, Manager Kari Anscomb and her team hosted a sparkling patio party to keep people happy on the outside while they were waiting for movie seating inside at the Block E theaters. They had so many ladies show up, they had to host screenings until midnight. In addition to music and fun foods and prize drawings, they hosted a Skyy Vodka martini bar with elegant martini choices, including the sexy classic cosmos. It was fun to find out the party was so popular that Bellanotte has continued their Sex and the City cocktail parties (with prizes too) every Thursday from 7 to 10 p.m. all summer long. Bellanotte music man Peter Blattner tells me they rotate music every week now on the patio, and added salsa sounds on Wednesday nights. Cheers, I’ll drink to that.


A TOAST TO MINNESOTA BEARD CONNECTIONS…I headed to the Big Apple in June for an annual foodie favorite of mine: the James Beard Awards, and it was more fun than ever. As a fan and a member of the James Beard Foundation, I have attended a half-dozen times over the past decade. This Academy Awards-like ceremony for great chefs and restaurant operations began in 1991. I was thrilled to see they moved into the Lincoln Center, at the Avery Fisher Hall, for their Awards show last year in honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Beard House (1987-2007), where they hosted the Sunday night event again this year. It gave us a show-stopping setting for both the awards presentation in the theater and a glamorous two-level, indoor/outdoor venue for the walk-around cocktail party and gourmet reception following the awards ceremony featuring the work of more than 30 guest chefs.

This year the “Oscars” of food and fun took place complete with red carpet and a surprise celebrity host—which gave me deja vu, seeing “Sex and the City’s” Kim Cattrall in the flesh, as co-host/emcee. She joined Iron Chef Bobby Flay at the podium, and much like the Oscars, engaged in some suggestive and “witty”

Kim-style banter, like her intro: “I’d like to have a throwdown with you, Bobby.” Oh Kim!

But it was the Minnesota connection that I came to cheer, and with three chefs out of five from Minnesota in the Best Chef/Midwest category, our odds were good. I was holding my breath. Each candidate must have been a working chef for at least the past five years, the three most recent years in the region. In our case the Midwest, which cover eight states (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin) and our three deserving candidates were local favorites too, as we all know: chef/owners in Minneapolis -Tim McKee of La Belle Vie, Isaac Becker from 112 Eatery, and Alex Roberts of Restaurant Alma. Ah, but it was not their time. Adam Siegel, chef at Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro in Milwaukee, Wis., took the prize medal. Still, it’s such an honor to be nominated. Isn’t that what they say at the Oscars? And- when I spotted Tim in his tux across the crowded room at the party, he was smiling, waved, and said he was just happy to be there. A really good sport, eh?

I also was pleased to see other Minnesota connections on and off the stage, which grows each year from nominees to participants. I was greeted by a familiar face setting up her table for the reception—Cindy Pawlcyn, chef/owner of three Napa Valley restaurants: the legendary Mustards Grill, Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen and her most recent creation, the West Coast seafood house, Go Fish. Since Mustards opened in 1983, Pawlcyn was involved in the creation of over a dozen new restaurants in the Bay Area including the fun San Francisco Fog City Diner. Born in Minneapolis with a degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Pawlcyn began her career in the kitchen of the Pump Room in Chicago and moved to California in 1980. Her sister Mary Pawlcyn runs the unique Indigo import store in Minneapolis’ Warehouse District.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see another Minnesota winner announced. The very chef who I had met the night before at dinner at Café Boulud, 29 year-old Executive Chef Gavin Kaysen, was a nominee and named the winner for the James Beard Rising Star. This is quite an honor for chefs who must not be older than 30 years old to qualify for the award. A graduate of the New England Culinary School, Gavin was raised in Minnesota. His parents, David and Nancy, still live here in Bloomington along with his brother Sean, who sports a Mohawk haircut for a cool summer look. We met Gavin and the family at Café Boulud where we had a Saturday night dinner, and wished him all the best for Sunday. Then voila, there he was—called up on stage—a Minnesotan was winning. We were thrilled to see young Gavin getting his medal, saying it felt like a wild ride, and was hard to believe to see something like this happening in his first year in New York. His wife Linda was at his side, too, and you can see was very proud—as were his parents. When I took their family photo with the chef and his red-ribboned medal, his father David said, “We just might have to use this for our family Christmas card.”

And though I did not see her in the crowd, we had a Minnesota winner in the Radio Food Show Category with “The Splendid Table,” and host Lynne Rossetto Kasper, which airs across the country on National Public Radio too. Bravo.

Besides the real Minnesota connection, I have an adopted Minnesota connection in my blood thanks to working with the talented Chef Marcus Samuelsson, when he operated the New York City-based Aquavit here at the IDS Center. He is such a charmer, and had been named a Beard Rising Star Chef himself some 10 years ago. He gave a warm hello to all us Mini-Apple fans and said he and partner Hakan Swahn are rolling out another restaurant concept in Chicago and Tokyo as well (more later). And last but not least, I always like to see who is up for Outstanding Restaurant Award, because they select a restaurant in the United States with the criteria that “serves as a national standard-bearer for consistent quality and excellence in food, atmosphere, and service. Candidates must have been in operation for at least ten consecutive years.”

Fun to see I had been to four of the five nominated for the award, from the two San Francisco spots along the wharfs I have loved—The Slanted Door and Boulevard, (owned by another talented woman Chef/Owner, Nancy Oakes)—as well as Jean Georges, another spot I like along Central Park, and Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern. Danny pulled the honor this year, and since I have interviewed Danny in the past and was curious how the tavern looked after all these years, we made a beeline for lunch on Monday before heading to the airport to be sure we could refresh our memories of this classic spot… Burp! And to my pleasant surprise, I ran into another old friend there, too—Michel Richard, who had won Best New Restaurant on Sunday night for his Central Michel Richard in Washington, D.C. Another toast ensued and we all agreed a whirlwind weekend was well spent in the Big Apple once again this year.