Chef Georges Perrier's Last Night at Le Bec-Fin (and A.D. & Glamorosi in the New York Times)

Chef Georges Perrier on his last night at Le Bec-Fin

By GLAMOROSI

Between March 7 and 8, my husband A.D. and I got a flood of phone calls, emails, and texts informing us that The New York Times had run a candid photo of us dining at Le Bec Fin as part of an article about Chef Georges Perrier's last night at the helm of his world-famous French restaurant. Upon hearing this, all I could imagine was a huge photo of me, food-laden fork poised in front of my open mouth. Thankfully it wasn't that, but let me start at the beginning...

When I heard Le Bec-Fin was closing, I thought I missed the chance to dine there. A.D. had eaten there several times and had gotten to know Perrier from interviewing him over the years, but I had never been to the iconic restaurant.

On March 3rd, the restaurant's final night, A.D. and I went to the preview party for the Philadelphia International Flower Show. I had no idea why he insisted on leaving early, but it turns out he had secretly made arrangements for us to go to Le Bec-Fin.

The chandeliers at Le Bec-Fin

It was an elegant room: the soft golden light, three immense crystal chandeliers, sterling flatware complete with French sauce spoons, food served under silver domes, the legendary dessert cart a chariot of decadent confections...

Our meal began with champagne and martinis and ended with a tray of sweets. In between I had the following:

• Warm sunchoke soup, persimmon, Meyer lemon, Granny Smith apple
• Gallette de crabe, whole grain Dijon mustard and haricots-verts
• Day boat scallops, pecan gomasio, rutabega, sage-licorice emulsion, saba
• Muscovy duck breast, chestnuts in brandy, huckleberry, roasted Maitake, vanilla grains

The food was heavenly and the service was impeccable. During the meal patrons stood to make toasts to Chef Perrier, and he gave speeches about his life as the head of Le Bec-Fin. He talked about how his career had taken its toll on his family: his dedication to Le Bec-Fin had derailed two marriages and kept him from getting to know his daughter when she was young. He spoke about food critics, and how in life you must handle both compliments and criticism with humility. There was no sorrow or regret in his words, just truth and wisdom about the sacrifices it can take to be successful.

Glamorosi and Chef Perrier

When we were leaving Chef Perrier came over to kiss us goodnight and I took a photo with him. We got a few steps outside the door and I said to A.D. "Oh no - this was such an amazing night and we didn't take a photo together". I didn't realize a photographer from The New York Times had captured the moment for us.


You can see our New York Times photo by clicking the link in the first paragraph of this post, or click here.

To read the full article click here - you may have to log in to the Times website.

Photos of Georges Perrier and Glamorosi by A.D. Amorosi
Chandelier photo by Glamorosi

For more posts about food, fashion, art and entertainment:
Glamorosi.blogspot.com

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Philadelphia International Flower Show 2012 - Hawaii: Islands of Aloha

By REESE AMOROSI

The Philadelphia International Flower Show takes place every year in March; it is the largest indoor exhibition of its type in the world. It is a competitive event produced by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, with plant enthusiasts from around the globe vying for ribbons in almost 600 categories. The show is so well known that Saturday Night Live recently mentioned it in a sketch about what it would be like if Ricky Gervais hosted events other than the Golden Globe Awards.

On Saturday, March 3, the Philadelphia International Flower Show held its black tie preview party at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. For this year's Flower Show the theme is Hawaii: Islands of Aloha, so attendees received colorful leis as they entered the reception.  Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres were served as guests enjoyed a sneak peek at the show's features including the Orchid Wave - a sculptural walk-through exhibit that surrounded viewers with projections of waves, sea turtles and fish - massive displays of tropical flora, and a 25 foot waterfall.

A.D. (my husband) and I spent a lot of time admiring the exotic plants. My favorite entry in the entire show was the Nopalxochia phyllanthoides ‘Deutsche Kaiserin’, commonly known as the "Pond Lily Cactus" (shown above). A.D. was partial to the Veltheimia bracteata, also known as the "Forest Lily" (shown at right). Both of the award-winning specimens were from the greenhouses of socialite and philanthropist Mrs. Samuel M.V. Hamilton aka Dorrance "Dodo" Hamilton, a legendary exhibitor.

Philadelphia Style Magazine hosted a separate party inside of the party for their current cover model, designer Tory Burch. She wore an elegant long dress with bugle beads and a handkerchief hem. Publicist Nicole Cashman was flawless in a black and white patterned chiffon gown, and the best shoes of the evening were patent leather oxfords worn by a man my husband introduced to me as "Jimmy" - I later found out he was stylist James Glenn, who is known for luxury accessories.

My always-dashing husband wore a Gucci tuxedo with a scarf tie. I wore a vintage dress that my Mother gave me; she first wore it in the 1950s (she used to let me try it on when I was so young it fit me like a too-long gown).  The dress is red hibiscus-colored taffeta with a matching chiffon overlay. You can see photos of us separately below, and HughE Dillon snapped a photo of us together for PhillyChitChat.com

A.D. and I left the party a little early to dine at Le Bec-Fin and wish Chef Georges Perrier well on his last night in his world-famous restaurant - I'll tell you about that in my next post.

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2012 Philadelphia International Flower Show
Pennsylvania Convention Center
12th & Arch Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19107-2299

Sunday, March 4 – Sunday, March 11, 2012
For ticket info and hours click here

Photos of plants by Reese Amorosi aka Glamorosi 
Photo of Reese Amorosi by A.D. Amorosi

To read A.D.'s Flower Show review in Philadelphia City Paper click here.

For more posts about food, tea, fashion, gardening and events: Glamorosi.blogspot.com

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