'The Art Of Food' Brings Art To (Edible) Life At New York's Sotheby's

Last weekend, Sotheby's hosted a unique walk-around tasting in one of its main auction rooms, called The Art of Food. Hosted by chef Geoffrey Zakarian and his wife Margaret, the event gathered more than 20 local restaurants under one roof to serve art-inspired dishes to the well-heeled crowd.[relayed]

Highlights included veal and spinach agnolotti from Paola's inspired by Richard Anuszkiewwicz's Trans Orange; oysters with green apple, whole grain mustard miso, and salmon roe from Atlantic Grill inspired by John Currin's The Florist; charred sweet potatoes with dry cherries and vanilla from Blake Lane inspired by Gerhard Richter's Souvenir; upside-down cottage pie from Jones Wood Foundry inspired by Untitled by Sigmar Polke; pastrami with spätzle and sauerkraut from Mighty Quinn's barbecue inspired by Untitled Seascape by Hans Hofmann; mac and cheese meatballs from The Meatball shop inspired by John Chamberlain's Marvelettes; and smoked pastrami with rye mustard from The Penrose inspired by Brooklyn Bridge by Hiroshi Sugimoto. Shake Shack also really came through in the dessert department, serving a very tasty vanilla concrete with Champagne-macerated raspberries and brownie chunks. Wines (whites only, to avoid any risk of damaging the artwork) were provided by Barton & Guestier, who were pouring Sancerre, Chablis, Vouvray, Magnol Blanc, Pouilly-Fuissé, Cotes de Provence rose, and Graves Blanc.

It was a classy and refined event (as pretty much anything at Sotheby's is destined to be), and the quality of the dishes and wines were top-notch. This was the event's second year, and if this year was any indication, The Art of Food will be an annual tradition for years to come.