My Foodie Holiday @ Barneys!!

Hey there! A couple of months ago I got an email from Lee Schrager asking if I'd like to be a part of his cookbook launch party and partnership with Barneys New York. Lee is the beautiful mind behind the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and the one here in New York as well. He always donates the proceeds to charitable causes and his events are like an all-out celebration of food, wine and the city. I just love that the one in New York has the Burger Bash in Brooklyn!!! Anyway, Lee's new book The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival Cookbook is now on sale and filled with recipes from the events and behind the scenes stories as well. Funny thing, I don't think I'm in the book, but I was way too excited to be invited to join some major names in the windows at Barneys, so I of course said yes.

Ok, so fast forward a couple of months and the Simon Doonan designed windows are up! Here I am outside the big event ...

That's Rachael Ray on the left and Martha Stewart on the right. My picture is actually above and between them ...

Can you see it? It's a total click-and-enlarge, but I'm in good, sweet and delectable company next to cake maven Sylvia Weinstock and Top Chef Just Desserts host Gail Simmons. Pretty cool! Here are some more pics of the windows ...

I took these pictures and then did a few interviews on the red carpet. With the breaking news of the royal engagement of Prince William, everyone wanted to know what I would make for the wedding. I opted for the groom's cake, red velvet all the way! Here I am talkin' cocoa ...

Right when I was about to head into the party, I ran into my girl, Alex Guarneschelli ...

Alex is a hard working chef and every time I see her she is all smiles. Doing the restaurant, her television shows, she's a mommy ... so much and she's always such a joy to see. We said our hellos and I headed inside to enjoy the launch party for Lee's book.

That's Marcus Samuelsson, he has a new show starting on Martha Stewart's Sirius channel and Russell Simmons was his first guest.
Super packed right? Look who I ran into ...
It's Anne Thornton, the host of Food Network's newest show, Dessert First. I watched her drizzle maple glaze on a pie last week and silently cursed the woman lol. I told her I can't watch if I'm close to my pantry. Her show makes you want to cook ... and cook something baaaaaaad :-). My bestie Natina came from Chicago to celebrate the night with me ...
I actually had her on Cooking for Real with me. It's an episode called "Girls that Grill" and I blogged about it on a post I called "Really, where did January go?". It was nice to have her here to celebrate! The party was actually plenty of fun and not the stuffy affair you might expect, most of it owed to the DJ ...

That's my long lost text-buddy Beverly Bond! Back when I was in radio we kept in touch here and there with just basic hellos and kindness among two women in the biz. We lost touch, but we've both been busy. She founded Black Girls Rock and just a week ago a show she produced for her movement aired on BET to record-breaking ratings. Check the Black Girls Rock page on BET (Warning before you click link:music plays automatically on homepage). Pretty cool to run into her again and say hi. So happy for her!!! Ok, I'm off to lunch! Enjoy the day!