AIWF Hosts Rare, and Well Done, Event

Nicole Sforza
Posted: November 6, 1999

More than 250 guests, all with carnivorous appetites, attended the American Institute of Wine & Foods first-ever celebration of red wine and red meat, aptly entitled "Big Red." Held Nov. 1 at Manhattan's 200 Fifth Club, the New York chapter event pulled in $25,000 for the institute's scholarship fund.

Fare from 21 New York restaurants ranged from Beacon's Argentinian rib eye steak and Bolivar's grilled short ribs to Citi's filet of beef au poivre and The Post House's cajun-style filet with baked black beans. While Angelo & Maxie's served up delicious filet mignon on onion bread, Acacia went a different route, with mini buffalo burgers.

The grand sponsor, St. Francis Winery, poured its Reserve Merlot 1995, Old Vines Zinfandel 1997 and Cabernet Sauvignon 1996. A selection of Ports, including Fonseca's tawny 10-year-old and Taylor Fladgate's late-bottled vintage 1994, was paired with dessertcheesecake from Junior's in Brooklyn.

When guests needed a break from the feeding frenzy, they bid at the silent auction. A Weber gas barbecue set brought $1,500, and a home-delivered Kentucky bison butchered to the winner's specifications went to one lucky bidder for $900.

Parsippany, N.J., resident Jerry Giordano, an AIWF member for 10 years, summed up the event best: "Ive been to 100 of these things, and there is more food here than Ive ever seen. Theyre just waiting for people to come and get it."