It wasn’t easy getting to Aspen. I had to take three flights
just to get to Vail, where I was meeting my friend Lisa. She had decided to
drive up and the timing worked out perfectly to pick me up at the airport and
make the scenic one and a half hour trip to our bed & breakfast in Aspen.
We didn’t arrive until about 9:00 pm and had to change
quickly to get to two of the first night’s parties. The first was downtown on
the rooftop of the
Dancing Bear. We saw Rick Bayless, but most of the other
guests had already departed by the time we arrived, so we just stayed a short
while before getting back in the car and heading up the mountain.
The Jose Andres Wines of Spain Party was at a private
mansion (currently listed for sale at $28 million) that was as spectacular on
the inside as it was when we pulled up to the valet in the driveway. We went to
the bar to try Jose’s Sour before sampling some wines and the barbecue of
chorizo, skirt steak and some of the best pork sliders I’ve had.
Lots of the celebrity chefs were at the party, including
Marcus Samuelsson, Giada de Laurentis, Tom Cocchlio and Andrew Zimmern, who I
had met in South Beach and interviewed recently for an
article. It was a fun
atmosphere as the “official” festival had not started and everyone was pretty
relaxed.
We left the party around midnight to get some sleep for a
very early wake up call. Lisa had agreed to run the 5K with Bobby Flay charity
run and I was in charge of taking the photos.
Despite the fact that she hadn’t been running regularly and hadn’t
really adjusted to the altitude, she did pretty well in the race. The real
winner, though, was Samuelsson, who was the first chef to cross the finish
line.
After the race, the runners were treated to a breakfast of
Pure Protein bars, Figi Water, bagels and champagne. Lisa hung out for a bit while I went down to
a local breakfast hangout called Poppycock for a
fun interview with Belvedere head
Vodka’s Head of spirit creation and mixology, Claire Smith. We had a great time
and I left ready to face a full day (and night) of Aspen Food & Wine
Classic activities – after a downed some of Poppycock’s famous Old Fashion
Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes.
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