Celebrating a Great American Restaurant

Dear Pros,

You've got Hunter here, finally coming down to earth after another incredible Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. For 41 years we've brought the brand to life in this beautiful Rocky Mountain region that serves as the stage and backdrop for dozens of chef cooking demonstrations, beverage seminars, a new talk series, grand tastings (with hundreds of wine, spirits, and food vendors) as well as nightly parties and dinners, and all the meaningful moments that occur when the culinary world comes together.

It's a lot! And there's something about being in community with the hospitality industry and the energy of the event that makes you want to be your best, as my former chef and longtime friend Jonathan Waxman told Food & Wine last year for the oral history of the Classic.

"You're expected to perform better, you're expected to think better, you're expected to converse better, you're expected to be a better version of yourself," he said.

Next week marks my seventh year on the job as editor in chief at Food & Wine, and I've never been prouder of how our team showed up and delivered in Aspen. The highlight of the weekend for me — the thing that still gives me goosebumps — was a special dinner honoring Gramercy Tavern's 30th anniversary, where chef Tom Colicchio joined his fellow Gramercy Tavern co-founder Danny Meyer, along with 2002 F&W Best New Chef and executive chef-partner Michael Anthony, chef de cuisine Aretah Ettarh, pastry chefs Karen DeMasco and Claudia Fleming, sous chef Brianna Cruz Rabago, and general manager William Carroll, with a big assist from event coordinator Eunice Lee.

As Meyer recounts in a video we showed at the start of the event (and which you can see online), the roots between Food & Wine and Gramercy Tavern run deep. It was at the 1992 F&W Classic in Aspen where Meyer and Colicchio hatched a plan over breakfast to open a new restaurant together. Back then, Meyer was primarily a wine speaker and Colicchio was at the Classic to be celebrated as a Best New Chef and cook at the BNC showcase.

Last weekend, he prepared the same Spiced Roasted Squab Dish in the same room at the Hotel Jerome as he had so many years before, one of many full circle moments in the evening. Also on the menu: Ettarh's Asparagus Salad, Anthony's Hot Smoked Rainbow Trout with Pickled Cipollini Onions, and Fleming's iconic Coconut Tapioca, a pudding crowned with passionfruit sorbet. Big thanks to Massican, Cameron, Hirsch Vineyards, and Boundary Breaks for pairing their wines and the creative floral brilliance inspired and overseen by Gramercy Tavern's chief floral officer Roberta Bendavid.

What I loved about the dinner is what I love about the restaurant itself. The quality of the people who have made this iconic restaurant hum for 30 years and the particular culture of warm hospitality they practice. Every detail was considered, from the flowers to the signed keepsake menus and personalized place cards. I highly recommend that you carve out some time to read our new feature story "A Great American Restaurant" by executive features editor Kat Kinsman (special thanks to assistant editor Lucy Simon for the production assist on the story and dinner, and her story on the groundbreaking wine program), which is also in our new July Innovators Issue. Bookmark the recipes, including Mike Anthony’s trout and former Gramercy Taver pastry chef Miro Uskokovic's Peach and Tomato Buckle. And listen to Kat's new conversation with Clauda Fleming on our Tinfoil Swans podcast.

We chose the headline in the magazine in reference to New York Magazine putting a bullseye on Gramercy Tavern's back with the cover that read, "The Next Great Restaurant?" when the restaurant opened in 1994. After a year of finding their footing, they answered the question and the team — from first-day employees to the more recent team members who are evolving the restaurant's culture and cuisine — have continued to answer it for three decades. I cannot imagine New York City without Gramercy Tavern for another 30 years, and we know for a fact that they're planning for the long haul.

I'm going into this sweltering summer weekend feeling immense gratitude for Gramercy Tavern's team and our Food & Wine team. We couldn't produce the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen without our ace events team, or the operations team, 700 volunteers, and every chef, winemaker, speaker, vendor, and F&W Pro who shared their time, smarts, and heart with us in Aspen. Thank you. What a privilege it is to be a steward of this brand.

Happy weekending to you, Pros. Let's run it back again this fall at the new Food & Wine Classic in Charleston September 27-29?

Warmly,
Hunter