Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times
No Taste like Home: In the Kitchen with Antoni
The 42nd annual Food & Wine Classic began with a flavorful and heartfelt seminar led by Antoni Porowski, who invited guests (and a baby in the front row) into his world through food rooted in memory and heritage.
Porowski, who describes himself as “80% Polish,” kicked things off by preparing latkes — a dish rich in personal history.
“I’m all about nostalgia,” he shared, framing food as a vessel for connection and reflection.
His first dish he prepared was latkes and a top of caviar, which was served right to us.
His second dish he prepared, a masala omelette, broadened the cultural palette of the session. But the message remained the same: Food is deeply personal.
When asked what cooking means to him, Porowski offered a vulnerable glimpse into his past.
“For me, it’s more personal than cultural,” he said. “I was raised in a really chaotic household — we didn’t really get along. My parents … communication was not their strong suit. But sitting at a table, enjoying a meal together — by far the most positive memories I have.”
I loved getting to chat with him about food and what his time on the reality tv show queer eye was like.
An amazing first look at to what Food & Wine Classic is all about in my hometown, Aspen.
— Madison Osberger-Low
Beer For Breakfast: Drink Your Vitamins
The days before coffee existed were buzzin’. No hot cup of Jo meant beer was the common breakfast drink.
Beer guru and New York’s first female cicerone Anne Becerra paid perfect homage to this epicurean pastime on Friday amid her “Beer For Breakfast: Drink Your Vitamins” segment for Food & Wine.
Inside the cavernous Grand Ballroom of Hotel Jerome, guests were greeted by a nice plate of bacon, scrambled eggs and bits of lobster atop avocado toast, cream cheese danish, a waffle, and — is that caviar on butter I see?
But the real stars of the show were four varieties of delicious, delicious beer: raspberry sour ale, oatmeal stout, Belgian-style wheat, and a trappist ale brewed by Belgian monks.
Now, I’m usually the type of shameless scoundrel to quaff Coors Light with bottom-shelf scrambled eggs like some frat pledge, but Becerra’s expertise — featured in Forbes, Wall Street Journal, New York Times — has me converted me to the dark side … the dark ale side, that is.
Like some sort of beer rocket scientist, she brilliantly infused each nibble with its hoppy partner, as if love at first sight.
The tart from the sour ale, called “Minky Boodle” from the Thin Man Brewery in Buffalo, New York, complemented the sweet cream cheese danish like candy.
The burnt molasses flavor from the oatmeal stout, from the Samuel Smith’s Brewery in Tadcaster, United Kingdom, paired with the waffle like coffee and doughnuts.
The heavily spiced, bubblegum tang from the Belgian Wheat, called “Allagash White” brewed in Portland, Maine, sent my taste buds on a wild ride as I tore through my lobster and eggs.
Finally, the smoky aroma from the monk-made Trappistes Rochefort joined the bacon like a match made in heaven.
“I feel it’s as elegant of a combo as anything,” Becerra said.
— Ray K. Erku
Sake vs. Wine: The Ultimate Showdown
Sake vs. Wine: The Ultimate Showdown at this year’s Aspen Food & Wine Classic proved to be an enlightening — and delightfully boozy — 10 a.m. experience. Led by sake expert Monica Samuels and master sommelier June Rodil, the seminar offered an expertly curated face-off between two beloved fermented beverages. Four glasses of sake on the left, four glasses of wine on the right, and a small pairing plate of lemon slices, salt, butter, jalapeño, and crackers set the stage for sensory exploration.
Participants tasted sake and wine side-by-side, comparing their vastly different acidities, textures, and aroma profiles. Sake, often lower in acid and subtly aromatic — frequently reminiscent of banana — held its own with food pairings thanks to its umami-friendly nature. Salt, we learned, pairs especially well with all styles of sake and was encouraged as a companion in each tasting.
While wine’s structure and tannins are more familiar to Western palates, Samuels made a compelling case for sake’s versatility and longevity. An opened bottle of wine might last a few days, but sake? It can remain fresh for up to four weeks. It’s drinkable, cookable, and even beneficial for your skin—a triple threat.
The duo emphasized the importance of cultural context. Sake’s traditions — like pouring for others before yourself — reflect a deeply communal ethos. Even the vessels vary; Monica admitted to drinking sake out of oyster shells.
A standout takeaway? If a restaurant menu simply says “hot sake,” it’s a red flag — akin to seeing “red wine” with no varietals listed. The seminar didn’t declare a winner, but it showcased how both beverages shine in different ways. The real triumph was how it opened minds and palates to the underrated, elegant world of sake.
— Shannon Asher
High Steaks
I didn’t expect to laugh this much while learning about steak and wine, but the “High Steaks” seminar brought the sizzle — and the punchlines.
Sommeliers Femi Oyediran and Miles White tag-teamed the tasting like seasoned comedians with corkscrews, walking us through why certain wines make steak shine.
The secret? Fat meets acid.
“Fat is the flavor highway,” White quipped, “but it needs a red wine with road rules.”
Enter Cabernet Sauvignon and Chianti. The ribeye, rich with marbled fat, practically begged for a structured Napa Cab, its bold tannins slicing through the richness like a palate cleanse in a glass.
For the New York strip, they turned to Chianti — bright, savory, and high in acidity.
“It’s like the steak’s zesty sidekick,” Oyediran joked, “always keeping it in check.”
The key to a perfect pairing isn’t just power — it’s balance. And these wines brought both, with just enough acidity to match the meat’s intensity, bite for bite. If you’re grilling this summer, skip the butter knife and pour a Chianti instead. Or better yet, grab a Cabernet — and a front-row seat to the next time these two are mic’d up.
While the seminar served up serious knowledge, Oyediran and White reminded us that the best pairing is the one you enjoy most — even if it breaks every rule.
In the end, they agreed, “Drink what you like with what you love.”
— Westley Crouch
Brooklyn’s Ayesha Nurdjaja brings taste of Morocco to Aspen
Ayesha Nurdjaja knows how to cook flavors that linger.
I discovered this as I tasted Nurdjaja’s Moroccan tagine dish, which included sweet and spicy lamb shoulder laid upon a bed of pomegranate-infused couscous and topped with fresh herbs.
The boisterous Brooklyn chef addressed the crowd at the St. Regis on day one of Food & Wine in Aspen. She traveled through the Middle East to refine her craft, absorbing the region’s technique for creating dishes that leave you with an experience, a memory.
As she spoke, she marinated the lamb shoulder in tomato paste, olive oil, and ras el hanout — a spice that, from Arabic, translates to “king of the shop” — before covering it in the ceramic, cone-shaped tagine lid. The tagine, she said, traps the stew’s juices, enriching its flavor. But as a 20-year-chef, she brings plenty of her own style to the North African cuisine.
She loves salt, garlic, onions, and most of all, olive oil, practically discarding the pour spout to liberally apply the ingredient to all her dishes.
And I can say — it worked.
— Skyler Stark-Ragsdale
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