Look at you, all hung over and dissipated, with glitter stuck on your contact lens and a friction burn from your Spanx. Honestly, after the last two weeks of epic indulgence, what does a dirty party animal like you have to look forward to in the coming New Year?
Well, it turns out that we party animals have tons to live for in 2012. EDP may have only heard about the ensuing seven months of parties, but those 211 days are jammed with fabulous events that range from Blue Hill at Stone Barns’s chic Sausage and Beer hoedown to Westchester Magazine’s Second Annual Wine & Food Weekend. There’s the Hudson Valley Bounty, a glittering night on which many of the best chefs in the county collaborate on a feast to benefit the Hudson River Museum, plus, Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, the Best of Westchester, and a few more party animal surprises. Keep your radios (well, modems) tuned into EDP for weekly HotDate news, but right now, get out your new 2012 calendars and your sparkliest star stickers. These are Westchester’s Don’t Miss foodie events of 2012.
Hudson Valley Bounty 2012
January 26, 6pm
$500 for two tickets; $5,000 table for 10
Get this: Six fabulous Westchester chefs collaborate on one stunning meal, which is served on a glittering January evening in a museum that houses one of Westchester’s finest art collections. I was at this event last year, and it was a fabulously warm-hearted, fun night. This year’s menu promises to be even better. You’ll read more about this soon on EDP, but book your tickets now! PS, here’s a clip of Chef Peter Kelly from 2011’s Hudson Valley Bounty.
The 7th Annual Sausage and Beer Dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns
January 29, 5:30 pm
$195 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity
Shut the front door. It’s only the biggest beer event of the season, when Chef/Kitchen Director Adam Kaye throws down his world-class charcuterie, and it’s all paired with a gorgeous Blue Hill dinner menu, fabulous digs, and an incredible selection of local beers. This is where Blue Hill at Stone Barns lets its hair down—and, let me tell you, you don’t want to miss that sight. Visit Blue Hill at Stone Barns’ site http://www.bluehillfarm.com/food/blue-hill-stone-barns or call (914) 366-9600 for more info.
Hudson Valley Restaurant Week, March 18-31 http://www.hudsonvalleyrestaurantweek.com/home.php
This year, Hudson Valley Restaurant Week’s price break is again extended for seven more days, which offers local diners ever more opportunities dine well and dine cheaply. How cheaply, the cynical reader might ask? Well, we’re talking a three-course lunch for $20.95 for and three-course dinner for $29.95 (exclusive of beverage, tax, and gratuity). You can’t beat it with a stick. Keep checking here http://www.hudsonvalleyrestaurantweek.com/home.php for the roster of participating restaurants, but, while those are TBD, here’s a taste from last year’s kickoff party at Harvest on Hudson:
Westchester Magazine’s Wine & Food Weekend
May 17, 19, and 20
$50 for the Burger, BBQ and Bash; $85 per person for the Grand Tasting; $150 per person for the Winemakers Dinner. Times and events listed here: https://www.cvent.com/Events/Register/ProdItems.aspx?rc=bd86ec30-6813-4291-a183-69541130a1e1&ra=f9cbfa41-dba3-4e79-a673-81061558ed69
This is an event where Westchester’s greatest chefs team up with a world of winemakers, distillers, and brewers—and they all get together with foodies to fill the Ritz-Carlton for an action-packed weekend. Two days of a Grand Tasting in the hotel’s vast, air-conditioned ballroom brings about a million sips and bites to your palate. Plus, ample indoor bathrooms with gleaming marble really are just the icing on the cake—for veteran wine festival goers, anyway. Look for seminars, hotel and spa deals, and a glittering Winemakers Dinner to honor a culinary-world luminary soon to be named. It’s fabulous, informative, and just the place for Westchester foodies this summer. Did I mention the air conditioning? Here’s my favorite clip from last year’s event, Chef Eric Gabrynowicz getting bizarrely touchy-feely with a dead pig.
Westchester Magazine’s Annual Best of Westchester Party
July 18
General admission (in advance), $75; VIP and general admission at the door, $100
What I love about this annual party is its sheer, unrepentant size. Westchester Magazine takes over an entire island and fills it with music, food, and wine and about 3,000 party people. There’s a red carpet, roomy U-Stuff goodie bags, and (every single year that I’ve attended) scantily dressed young women dancing and mixing through the crowd, often while patterned in body paint. It’s a hoot. Finally, on BOW night, when the sun sets over the city and reflects on the L.I. Sound, everyone wanders out to the shore, drink in hand, takes one last sip, and feels great about living in Westchester. Here’s a video (no body paint, though – be warned).
