By A summer evening in a Chelsea arts gallery, deeply immersed in Italian perfumes and flavors, with dishes that draw inspiration from films, masterfully prepared by a chef whose declared personal mission is high cuisine. An evening that combined an art exhibit of colorful tutus paintings with clips of famous food scenes and gourmet foods. Movie’n’Food – Taste of Cinema was a special kind of night that celebrated the best of Italian food one day before the Fancy Food Show of NYC. A journey through taste, between cinema and gastronomy, curated by Dress in Dreams of Elisabetta Cantone and Francesca Silvestri, with the aim to promote the excellence of Italian Lifestyle, that after numerous overseas events (from Houston to Chicago, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, passing through Toronto and Washington DC) returned to the Big Apple.
OPENING NIGHT – Ewa Bathelier’s tutus, the video installation of Movie’n’Food that recalls the most beautiful and significant images of films where food is the great protagonist, a charming eight-minute video that mixes clips from cult films: Ratatouille, The President’s Chef, Madame Mallory and the smell of curry, Eat Pray Love, Pretty Woman, The Gold of Naples, Lady and the Tramp, The Leopard and Big Night. And more, the spectacular cooking of brilliant chef Peter Parisi. He likes to describe himself as a peasant cook, but the thirty-four years old kitchen wizard grew up at the court of star chefs like Alan Ducasse and Gualtiero Marchesi, and his name is already internationally renowned. His must: no waste, because everything can be reused in the kitchen, from the stems to the skins, even the leaves. Parisi described also his experience by unveiling some of the recipes that made him famous throughout the world. With sparkling pans and ladles of Pentole Agnelli, he prepared dishes dedicated to cult films and international stars, with Italian ingredients of absolute excellence: from chocolate gnocchetti, that draw inspiration from the film Chocolat, to coffee and ricotta pasta, a tribute to the great Marcello Mastroianni; from the risotto with black truffles (The President’s Chef) to the Neapolitan pizzelle of Sophia Loren; from pasta with cheese and pepper, a tribute to Maestro Federico Fellini, to his famous Boccacielli, that on this occasion were presented for the very first time after the arrival at the Eternal City, before finding a home in the Big Apple. The event also saw the partecipation of an expert in Italian culinary culture and traditions, not to mention a specialist of NYC outstanding restaurateurs and a judge of the Fancy Food Show: Ms. Francine Segan. Among the more than 120 guests were the legendary Tony May, founder of the famous San Domenico of Manhatthan, accompanied by his daughter Marisa and her husband Leonardo Metalli; journalists specialized in Cinema and Food also attended, and obviously, so did many buyers of the Fancy Food Show an outstanding dinner with Parisi’s spectacular cooking. The event was very prestigious. Starting from KIMBO coffee, main sponsor of the event whose 100% Italian background, between tradition and innovation, was told by big panels and a video: from the traditional Neapolitan “cuccuma” remindful of Granny’s coffee, to the new ecofriendly, organic blend coffee pods that suit the most common coffee machines. A wild run in the heart of Naples, cradle of coffee, and in the Rubino’s brothers creativity that blossomed in 1963. Gragnano DOC pasta, instead, beard the name DI MARTINO, known throughout the world, being exported as far as China. In May, Di Martino inaugurated the Prize “Il Primo Manhatthan”, a challenge that saw 200 Italian chefs in N.Y.C. contending for victory. For Movie’n’Food, FERRARELLE, the Italians’ water that is enjoyed throughout the world, made some special and limited edition Platinum bottles bearing the logo of the event. Even more, an expert barman prepared Ferrarelle-Mojito cocktails throughout the night. All washed down by the wines of the Società Agricola CIÙ CIÙ of Offida, in the Italian region of Marche. Bubbles, perfumed and delicious whites and reds: Ciù Ciù has followed Dress in Dreams in every stop of Movie’n’Food – the Taste of Cinema. A sweet touch, and not just any kind of sweet: VENCHI chocolate, the famed chocolate producer of Piemonte, that during this special occasion was presented by GB Mantelli, shareholder of the brand and maître chocolatier who delighted the guests with mini-books on the history of chocolate.
FOREVER CHEESE, the company that has already delighted the palates of VIP guests at the Washington DC embassy in the last month of September, for Movie’n’Food and to celebrate the end of the initiatives of Expo 2015,presented a wide range of cheeses from every region of Italy. Last but not least: URBANI TARTUFI, active since 1852 and undisputed world leader for its high quality production, gave that extra touch to the event with “his majesty the truffle”. After NYC, Movie’n’Food – the Taste of Cinema will land in Miami in October for another event where Italian taste and quality will be protagonists.
