A Table At Le Cirque

 When I drew a doodle of top New York restaurateur, Sirio Maccioni ages ago

 I never thought they would include it in this new Rizzoli book, A Table At Le Cirque, on the history of the restaurant.

 Did  you ever visit the original Le Cirque on East 65th street?

 Here's Sirio in front of the fabulous murals of singerie reminescent of those at Chateau Chantilly.

 Le Cirque was where the 'Ladies who lunch' had to show up.

 Everyone who was anyone showed up.

 New York's top chefs graced its portals.

I used to hang out in the kitchen watching Jacques Torres perform pastry miracles - his chocolate stove!

 Gorgeous model Carmen Dell'Orfice nuzzeling Sirio in the book.

 Last night at the book party, Carmen was again nuzzeling Sirio with his executive chef, Olivier Reginensi.

 The champagne was flowing

 Hor d'oeuvres reflected

 Recipes in the book - these divine shrimp fritters.

 Mini desserts too, even macarons - gone in the wink of an eyelash.

 What to wear to a FAB book party besides a macaron T-shirt? Black, black and black.

 The newest Le Cirque is at 151 East 58th street.

 The restaurant is very glam and gracious

Painting by C.F.Payne
Sirio plus his three sons, Mauro, Marco and Mario are still at the helm, ring masters of the newest Le Cirque.

Bon Appetit!

Kings of Pastry 2

Last night I had to eat macarons.  And drink champagne.

At the opening screening of the KINGS OF PASTRY!

Remember I told you about the KINGS OF PASTRY back in August. Well it's here at last.

After the film, filmmakers, Chris Hededus and D. A. Pennebaker took questions. I couldn't resist asking,
"However did you get permission from the French Meilleur Ouvriers de France (or MOF) society to make this film?!" It was not easy.
They had to wait till the very last minute for permission. Even then it was day-by-day up-for-grabs wait to see if they would be invited back the following day to shoot during the 3-day concours. The chance their equipment or even their very presence could disturb the competing chefs or their creations was a major concern. On the last and final day they were given a tiny boxed-area to shoot the film.
C'est comme ca.
Yet in the end the MOF was very pleased to have the competition filmed for posterity. No one had ever attempted it before. After the film we trooped over to nearby Jacques Torres Chocolate for the post-film soiree.



You feel you're inside a giant cocoa bean.
I got to meet the amazing unflappable star and MOF contender of Kings of Pastry, chef Jacquy Pfeiffer sans whites/out of his chef's jacket. Chef Pfeiffer is founder of The French Pastry School in Chicago.


The wives of the MOF contenders are very much heroines in their own right - Mme. Pfeiffer stands by her man.

An MOF winner (at the mere age of 26) Jacques Torres tries to explain why there are no female contenders for the MOF. Jacques is now Dean of pastry at the French Culinary Institute and where there are plenty of female contenders onboard. I drew Jacques 1st business card when he was still head pastry chef at Le Cirque. I used to hang out at his station and get sample nibbles - the good ole days..

Sotha Kuhn, former head chef at Le Cirque was there chatting with FCI Dean, Alain Sailhac.

New York restauranteur, Danny Meyer was there

Three-time contender for the MOF, Stephane Treand was telling me how it really does take 3 tries to get it right. To know exactly where everything you need is to win the race to the finish line. And it is a race against the clock. To be able to express your own unique point of view to win over all the judges. The judges have to eat at least 16 desserts. How do you make yours stand out from the rest?

Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer created this cinematic chocolatey sculpture for the party.

KINGS OF PASTRY will be opening near you soon.

Don't miss the excitement, the thrills, the tears, the laughter. And watch the trailer again

 Don't forget if you in Washington DC, do come have some macarons with me at the opening at the Alliance Francaise svp tomorrow night!