The James Beard Foundation partners with Phaidon and a handful of standout chefs
The worlds of publishing, cooking and consumption teamed up Wednesday night at Phaidon's bookstore to celebrate the so-called bible of Italian cookery—"The Silver Spoon." The James Beard Foundation Greens rounded up a handful of the city's best Italian chefs to put their contemporary spin on dishes from the book.
Throwing down the gauntlet in the kitchen were chefs Nick Anderer (Maialino), Mario Carbone (Torrisi Italian Specialties), Iacopo Falai (Falai), Jim Lahey (Co.), Adam Shepard (Lunetta) and Andrew Whitney (Dell'anima). A young set of culinerati snacked on Carbone's scallop and fermented broccoli rabe and Lahey's mussel and pepper toast while sipping wine and browsing Phaidon's fancy books (one of which, Rene Redzepi's "NOMA: TIme and PLace in Nordin Cuisine," just sacked a few JBF Awards earlier this month). The dishes spoke for themselves, so we caught up with the chefs to ask a few questions of our own. —Jeremy Berger, photos by Natasha Ryan
