Star Chefs Stoke Your APPETITE

This week, Ina Garten, Joe Bastianich and Ann Burrell will gather under the blue-sky dome of the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank for APPETITE: A Gastronomic Experience. Also on hand will be Jersey's own Carton craft brewer, its new JAD distiller, Rook artisan coffee roaster, Sugarush cupcake baker and 40 North oyster farm.

This Thursday through Saturday, September 5th, 6th and 7th, the Basie Theater will celebrate the latest trends in cooking, baking and libations, all with sampling and sipping.

“We wanted to bring something different and educational to this area,” says operations director Izzy Sackowitz. “The idea came into my head about a year ago to bring people together from all different angles of the culinary arts.”

Garten–author of eight cookbooks. including Foolproof, her latest–is known for her approachable, easy-and-breezy style. In 1978, after leaving a high-stress job as a government official in Washington, she purchased a specialty food store in the Hamptons,The Barefoot Contessa. Keeping the name, Garten made it her signature, and became a print and TV guru of home entertaining.

Her Thursday night event will include stories of sharing good food and tips reflecting her years of catering and party planning. Teresa Politano of the Star-Ledger.will conduct an onstage interview and a question-and-answer period.

The fun and funky Burrell, host of the Food Network shows Chef Wanted, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef and Worst Cooks in America, will do an interactive cooking demonstration Friday evening. An expert in Italian cuisine, Burrell became a household name in 2005 when Mario Batali asked her to serve as his sous chef on Iron Chef America.

Saturday night’s event will feature international restaurateur, winemaker and author Bastianich judging a culinary throwdown between Red Bank Mayor Pat Menna and chef Victor Rallo, host of PBS’ Eat!Drink!Italy! and owner of Red Bank’s Basil T’s Brewery and Italian Grille and Undici Taverna Rustica in Rumson.

Bastianich, partner in Manhattan’s food and wine martketplace Eataly and owner of three Italian vineyards, will bring his knowledge and experience as a judge on Master Chef USA and Master Chef Italia to what should be an entertaining and enlightening evening.

The cook-off will be based on five secret ingredients. Sackowitz put out a call on Twitter and Facebook for suggestions for the “pasta, protein, fruit or veggie, cheese and a wild card” that the mayor and Rallo will have to use.

“We got a couple hundred responses,” he says. “Some of the wild card choices ranged from anchovies to red hots and cotton candy. The winning list came from one of our Facebook fans, and it’s going to be pretty challenging.”

Meanwhile, outdoors on a small stage, the Taste and Talk Tent on Saturday will offer samples and presentations by over a dozen local experts and food purveyors, including Carton Brewing, Jersey Artisan Distilling, Monmouth County’s Rook Coffee Roasters, Forty North Barnegat Bay Oyster Farm, and Sugarush cupcakes.

There will be $5 seminars on subjects including The American Donut, Pre-Prohibition Cocktails and How Italians Invented Italian Food.

On Saturday and Sunday, attendees can meet at the Food Truck Court and Patio for live music, including a Sunday morning kids’ concert and Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches, Freezy Freeze liquid nitrogen ice cream made while you wait, Hunger Construction stuffed baked potatoes, Oink and Moo BBQ and slow-braised meat sandwiches from Mayhem & Stout.

There will be craft beers, specialty drinks and, on Saturday morning, a make-your-own Bloody Mary Buffet with ingredients like bacon, beet juice and blue cheese-stuffed olives.

Tickets can be purchased individually or as a package, including the option to attend a meet-and-greet with the stars.

appetitecountbasietheatre.org

 

SUZANNE ZIMMER LOWERY is a food writer, pastry chef and culinary instructor at a number of New Jersey cooking schools. Find out more about her at suzannelowery.com.

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