Westchester Magazine Wine & Food Festival 2015

More on the Westchester Magazine Wine & Food Festival!

Top Westchester Chefs will show their cooking techniques in the New York-Presbyterian Tent and
visitor will reap the rewards of tasting samples as these culinary experts showcase their Farm-to-Table Approach


The Chefs: Peter X. Kelly, Rafael Palomino, Leslie Lampert and Bruno DiFabio



That's right! Four of the region’s top chefs will reveal some of their culinary secrets on Saturday, June 6 in the NewYork-Presbyterian Chef Demo and Farmers’ Market Tent at Westchester Magazine’s 5th Annual Wine & Food Festival.



Sponsored by NewYork-Presbyterian, the tent will be part of the Grand Tasting Village at the Kensico Dam Plaza in Valhalla, a new signature event of the four-day festival. Guests will revel in the best of Westchester’s food and wine scene, with a special focus on the farm-to-table approach to cooking that emphasizes the use of fresh, locally sourced ingredients.



The tent will open at noon, followed by a chef demonstration of cutlery and cookware of J.A. Henckels International at 12:30 p.m.



The master chef cooking demonstrations will focus on a range of cuisines including Latin-American, contemporary American, farm-to-table, and gourmet pizza. The chefs will work their culinary magic on a stage with a full demo kitchen provided by Thermador as they teach the audience their techniques and provide samples of their unique dishes after each demonstration.



The demonstration schedule is:

1:00 p.m. - Rafael Palomino, Sonora, Port Chester

2:00 p.m. - Peter Kelly, Xaviars Restaurant Group, Yonkers

3:00 p.m. - Leslie Lampert, Café of Love, Mount Kisco

4:00 p.m. - Bruno DiFabio, Amore Cucina, Scarsdale (Recently judged on Chopped)



A look at the chefs:



Chef Rafael Palomino draws from his childhood in Bogotá, Colombia, his younger years in New York City—alongside such culinary legends as Larry Forgione and Charlie Palmer—as well as his time in France, with Michel Guèrard in Eugènie-les-Bains. Palomino takes part in running all of his many restaurants, including Sonora in Port Chester.



He also teaches cooking classes and has published five cookbooks (so far!) They are: Bistro Latino, Viva la Vida, Nueva Salsa, Fiesta Latina and Latin Grill!



Chef Peter Kelly’s contemporary American cuisine has been delighting diners in the Hudson Valley for more than three decades. His restaurants bring dining to a new level by providing his guests with exquisite food and superb service. In 1983, at the age of 23, this self-taught chef opened Xaviars in Garrison and began his journey to success. Kelly owns four of the most acclaimed restaurants in New York State: Xaviars at Piermont, The Freelance Café & Wine Bar, Restaurant X & The Bully Boy Bar in Congers and X20 Xaviars on the Hudson in Yonkers. They have all received popular praise and the industry’s most coveted awards including The New York Times highest rating (Extraordinary), The Mobil Travel Guide Four Star Award, The Dirona Award, Restaurant News Dining Hall of Fame, Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence, Zagat’s Survey (29 out of 30) and New York State Restaurateur of The Year in 1998.



Chef Leslie Lampert, executive chef/owner, Café of Love and Ladle of Love in Mt. Kisco, NY, will be joined by her kitchen manager, Chef Mike Donnelly, who was classically trained at The French Culinary Institute in NYC, known now as The International Culinary Institute. A former Senior Editor at Ladies’ Home Journal Magazine, Lampert produced and wrote scores of food articles and spent countless hours in the test kitchen developing recipes for more than 17 million readers. She has also written dozens of articles on food and lifestyle for national magazines and has appeared frequently on television as a lifestyle expert including The Today Show, CNN and CBS’s 48 Hours.



Her 11-year-old, award-winning, locally sourced take-out shop, Ladle of Love, inspired the launch of Cafe of Love in 2008. The Cafe's farm-to-table philosophy supports local growers and farmers and features the freshest ingredients from the season's bounty. Both Café of Love and Ladle of Love are committed to supporting local charities and community efforts each month—from leukemia and little league—to land trust and lunch programs.



Ladle of Love won The Forbes Enterprise Award in 2006. Leslie was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2008.



Chef Bruno DiFabio, a leading pizza authority, has been called a “Pizza Geek,” “Dough Boy” and “The Fastest Pizza Maker in the World.” He owns a consulting company called The Academy of Pizza Science and has been coaching chefs from around the world in the art of pizza making for over 10 years, focusing on pizza technique, the scientific principles of dough making, theory, and the history of pizza. He is a six-time World Pizza Champion and has been a guest judge on the Food Network show Chopped.



Visitors to the NewYork-Presbyterian Chef Demo and Farmers Market Tent can also browse a Farmers’ Market, new to the event this year, which will feature 10 vendors selling vegetables, meats, cheeses and baked goods from the Hudson Valley. Some of the vendors will be John Boy’s Market, Plum Plum’s Cheese, DoReMe Farms, Larchmont Charcuterie and Meredith’s Bakery.



The Wine & Food Festival will take place June 3 – 6. One of the premier culinary gatherings in the Northeast, this event draws more than 5,000 people from across the New York Metro Area. The festival will feature 100 top restaurants and 150 world-class wines selected by the experts at Zachys of Scarsdale.


Tickets on Sale Now!  Visit westchestermagazine.com/winefood for complete details.


Westchester Magazine’s 5th Annual Wine & Food Festival brings together the top chefs and wine experts in Westchester County with more than 100 top restaurants and 150 world-class wines from June 3-6, 2015. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the Food Bank for Westchester and Friends of Westchester County Parks.