Press Release

February 24th, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Yael Raviv, (917) 533-3834

yael @umamifestival.org

Umami food and art festival, 2012

April 12th through April 30th, 2012

New York City

www.umamifestival.org

New York, NY. In its third installment, Umami food and art festival offers an appetizing assortment of multi-sensory events. From rock concerts to hands-on workshops, the festival presents a variety of hybrid creations bringing together food and art in numerous locations in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. Each event is a unique eye-opening, palate-teasing experience.

Umami kicks off on Thursday, April 12th with The Recipe Project: recipes by some of New York’s top chefs scored by Indie rock band One Ring Zero. Lead by composer Michael Hearst, the band experimented with a variety of musical styles according to each chef’s vision. Mario Batali, Tom Collicio, and David Chang are among the lyrics contributors. This event brings together live music, delicious food and drinks, and some reflections on both — courtesy of photographer and food writer Michael Harlan Turkell, who will be hosting a special addition of his talk show The Food Seen on Heritage Network Radio, live from Roulette.

A full program of events is available online at www.umamifestival.org and includes artist Tattfoo Tan’s exploration of cereal: combining an art show with hands-on audience participation, accompanied by music and drinks at Williamsburg’s 3rd Ward; Israeli chefs, producers, and artists come together at Astor Center for Food and Wine for a multi-sensory experience of place and taste including a spice-mixing workshop, wine tasting, and beautiful art with unexpected materials; a screening of short artists’ food films will be accompanied by Mihir Desai’s experimental culinary creations; chefs Robert Truitt and Brian Sullivan explore pastry with the Experimental Cuisine Collective; Lighthouse restaurant will host a panel discussion on the challenges and rewards of running an environmentally responsible, community based food business; a children’s workshop and a culinary challenge for teams of culinary and art students working together to explore the creative side of the cooking process round out this year’s program.

“By bringing these artists together with culinary professionals through performances, discussions and workshops, we wish to expose them to new audiences while stirring a debate around the role of food and food professionals in our society. Our intention is to use art to increase awareness of the power food has to influence and shape both diners and cooks,” said festival director Yael Raviv.

For more information contact Yael Raviv yael@umamifestival.org Tel. (917) 720-5706

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About Umami:

Umami: food and art festival was created in 2008, to foster collaborations between artists and food professionals. The festival features events that are interdisciplinary and collaborative, creating an interchange of ideas and stirring debate about the role of food and art in our society. Umami encourages art based in everyday life and materials, illustrating that art can be found anywhere and can be produced at any time with the simplest means. The festival’s key objectives are (1) to use food as a common thread to look at and integrate art into daily life and (2) to broaden the horizon of food as an artistic medium.

High resolution photos from Umami 2008 and 2010 are available for press.

Umami is excited to be collaborating with the NY Food Museum and to support its mission to “encourage people think about the food they eat.”  The festival benefits from the aid and support of a variety of food and art organizations and businesses such as NY State Council for the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Gastronomica Magazine, the Experimental Cuisine Collective, Franklin Furnace, Astor Center for Food and Wine, Unilever, Whole Foods Market, 3rd Ward, and ARTIS, among others.

* Umami is the fifth taste sensed by the human tongue (in addition to sweet, salty, bitter and sour). Umami is a Japanese word meaning “savory” or “meaty” and applies to a sensation common in meats, cheese and other protein-rich foods or to “earthy” foods such as mushrooms and soy sauce.

March 1st, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Yael Raviv, (917) 561-2037

yael @umamifestival.org

Antonin Carême, the First Chef-as-Superstar

Umami food and art festival presents

the premiere of

Meringue Diplomacy

French Institute Alliance Française

Tinker Auditorium

22 East 60th Street, New York City

April 13th, 2011, 7:30 PM

Tickets: $25

http://www.umamifestival.org

New York, NY.  The life of Antonin Carême, the recognized founder of French grande cuisine, is the inspiration for the experimental documentary video entitled Meringue Diplomacy, produced and directed by Terri Hanlon. A reception and an exhibit of related prints by Hanlon will accompany the special premiere showing at the French Institute Alliance Française on April 13th, 2011.

Antonin Carême (1783-1833), though born in the late 18th Century, is a surprisingly modern figure whose work has present-day applications and clear parallels to the modern chef and restaurant scene, particularly as practiced in New York. Carême was chef to the great French diplomat Talleyrand for a dozen years, and later served the Prince Regent of England (the future King George IV), Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Baron de Rothschild. Carême’s spectacular creations — architectural culinary sculptures, the books he wrote on the art of French cuisine, and the dizzyingly elaborate dinners he prepared for heads of state — enabled him to become the power behind the politics of post-Napoleonic France. His culinary work enabled Talleyrand to wield gastronomy as a diplomatic tool, creating the concept of “power dining” by which so much business is transacted today.

Meringue Diplomacy underlines the continuity of time. “Current-day images and personalities bounce and refract off those of the past,” says artist Terri Hanlon, “In other words, these past characters and the situations they created exist in our century as well. Indeed, history has a way of repeating itself.”

Hanlon’s previous video work was shown at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, and broadcast on PBS. She also is known for her work in early experimental music videos using computer graphics and for her Iris print portraits, which are in private collections in Thailand, Germany, Spain and the United States. The New York Times has called her work “accomplished satire.”

Meringue Diplomacy filters Antonin Carême’s life through an ensemble cast of performers, who in their 21st Century lives possess aspects of the personalities of their early 19th Century counterparts. Home chef/performer Eric Barsness plays the role of Carême, and author, diplomat and wine connoisseur Jacques Bekaert plays the role of Talleyrand. Carol Clements, entrepreneur and choreographer, plays Lady Morgan, who wrote about Carême during his lifetime.

Meringue Diplomacy has a music score, directed by David Behrman, featuring the music of Jacques Bekaert, Jon Gibson, Barbara Held, John King, Laetitia Sonami and David Behrman; and choreography by Carol Clements.

Tickets available through http://www.umamifestival.org

###

About Umami:

Umami* was created in 2008 as a non-profit biennale event. It offers a meeting ground to people who use food as a medium and who present their audience with a multi-sensory experience in the dining room, or gallery space. The festival’s objective is to open avenues of collaboration between these artists and culinary professionals and expose them to new audiences from both the art and the culinary worlds. Choosing food as a common thread allows Umami to present new ways to look at art and to integrate art into daily life. Umami offers an environment for non-commercial, time-based art and encourage artists who work with non-traditional mediums and forms. http://www.umamifestival.org.

High resolution photos are available for press.

February 25, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Yael Raviv, (917) 561-2037

yael @umamifestival.org

Edible Architecture

Umami food and art festival

2011 gala event

Astor Center for Food and Wine

399 Lafayette Street (at 4th Street), New York City

Monday, March 28th, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

http://www.umamifestival.org

New York, NY.  The life of Antonin Carême, the recognized founder of French grande cuisine, is the inspiration for the experimental documentary video entitled Meringue Diplomacy, produced and directed by Terri Hanlon. Umami food and art festival is proud to present a sneak-peek at this original work before its official premiere in April. The evening will open with whimsical hors d’oeuvres, special cocktails and other edible-architecture treats, and will close with chef Sam Mason’s fabulous desserts inspired by the video.

This special collaboration between chef and artist offers a unique opportunity to engage with both the food and the art in new and exciting ways.  Proceeds from the event go to support Umami food and art festival’s mission to open avenues of collaboration between artists and culinary professionals, present new ways to look at art and to integrate art into daily life, and offer an environment for non-traditional mediums and forms. Tickets to the gala are $150 and include, in addition to the screening, cocktails, tastings, desserts, a chance to hear from both the artist and the chef, and a limited addition Umami gift bag.

Antonin Carême (1783-1833), though born in the late 18th Century, is a surprisingly modern figure whose work has present-day resonances, applications and clear parallels to the modern chef and restaurant scene, particularly as practiced in New York. Carême was chef to the great French diplomat Talleyrand for a dozen years, and later served the Prince Regent of England (the future King George IV), Tsar Alexander I of Russia and Baron de Rothschild. Carême’s spectacular creations — architectural culinary sculptures, the books he wrote on the art of French cuisine, and the dizzyingly elaborate dinners he prepared for heads of state — enabled him to become the power behind the politics of post-Napoleonic France. His culinary work enabled Talleyrand to wield gastronomy as a diplomatic tool, creating the concept of “power dining” by which so much business is transacted today.

Meringue Diplomacy underlines the continuity of time. “Current-day images and personalities bounce and refract off those of the past,” says artist Terri Hanlon, “In other words, these past characters and the situations they created exist in our century as well. Indeed, history has a way of repeating itself.”

Meringue Diplomacy will have its official premiere on April 13th, 2011 at the French Institute Alliance Française, Tinker Auditorium, 55 East 59th Street. Hanlon’s previous video work was shown at the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, and broadcast on PBS. She also is known for her work in early experimental music videos using computer graphics and for her Iris print portraits, which are in private collections in Thailand, Germany, Spain and the United States. The New York Times has called her work “accomplished satire.”

Meringue Diplomacy filters Antonin Carême’s life through an ensemble cast of performers, who in their 21st Century lives possess aspects of the personalities of their early 19th Century counterparts. Home chef/performer Eric Barsness plays the role of Carême, and author, diplomat and wine connoisseur Jacques Bekaert plays the role of Talleyrand. Carol Clements, entrepreneur and choreographer, plays Lady Morgan, who wrote about Carême during his lifetime.

Meringue Diplomacy has a music score, directed by David Behrman, featuring the music of Jacques Bekaert, Jon Gibson, Barbara Held, John King, Laetitia Sonami and David Behrman; and choreography by Carol Clements.

Tickets available through http://www.umamifestival.org

For more information contact Yael Raviv yael@umamifestival.org

###

About Umami:

Umami* was created in 2008 as a non-profit biennale event. It offers a meeting ground to people who use food as a medium and who present their audience with a multi-sensory experience in the dining room, or gallery space. The festival’s objective is to open avenues of collaboration between these artists and culinary professionals and expose them to new audiences from both the art and the culinary worlds. Choosing food as a common thread allows Umami to present new ways to look at art and to integrate art into daily life. Umami offers an environment for non-commercial, time-based art and encourages artists who work with non-traditional mediums and forms. www.umamifestival.org.

High resolution photos are available for press.

* Umami is the fifth taste sensed by the human tongue (in addition to sweet, salty, bitter and sour). Umami is a Japanese word meaning “savory” or “meaty” and applies to a sensation common in meats, cheese and other protein-rich foods or to “earthy” foods such as mushrooms and soy sauce.

February 1, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Yael Raviv, (917) 720-5706

yael @umamifestival.org

Umami food and art festival, 2010

February 24th through March 14th, 2010

New York City

New York, NY. In these difficult economic times Umami food and art festival demonstrates that art is not a superfluous luxury, but an integral part of daily life. The three-week festival will feature a variety of downtown venues, hosting cutting edge performances, academic panels and workshops providing food for thought, and a range of palate teasers. In its second year, Umami demonstrates that art can be created with the simplest means and the most common materials, and that food does not have to be consumed in a fine dining setting to be a source of pleasure and inspiration.

Umami kicks off on Wednesday, February 24th with FoodFashion a collaboration with Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, at Astor Center for Food and Wine, featuring a recreation of artist Robert Kushner’s provocative produce fashion show and an exciting debate on the complex and problematic relationship between food and fashion. A full program of events is available online at www.umamifestival.org, and includes artist Diane Borsato following in the steps of John Cage with a mushroom hunt in Chinatown, chef Chewy Cereceres of Macao Trading Co. offers his own take on mushrooms at the James Beard House, a live simulcast of short food performances accompanied by a tasting of new cookery by chefs Nils Noren and David Arnold of the French Culinary Institute at Eyebeam center for art and technology, a screening of short artists’ food films, artist Sarah Klein’s Bread Project, a cooking challenge for teams of culinary students exploring the art in cooking, children’s workshops, and an Urban Garden Roundtable bringing together artists, chefs, growers and community activists.

“By bringing these artists together with culinary professionals through performances, discussions and workshops, we wish to expose them to new audiences while stirring a debate around the role of food and food professionals in our society. Our intention is to use art to increase awareness of the power food has to influence and shape both diners and cooks,” said festival director Yael Raviv.

For more information contact Yael Raviv yael@umamifestival.org Tel. (917) 720-5706

###

About Umami:

Umami was created in 2008 as a non-profit biennale event. It offers a meeting ground to people who use food as a medium and who present their audience with a multi-sensory experience in the dining room, or gallery space. The festival’s objective is to open avenues of collaboration between these artists and culinary professionals. Choosing food as a common thread allows Umami to present new ways to look at art and to integrate art into daily life. Umami offers an environment for non-commercial, time-based art and encourage artists who work with non-traditional mediums and forms.

High resolution photos from Umami 2008 are available for press.

Umami is excited to be collaborating this year with the NY Food Museum and to support its mission to “encourage people think about the food they eat.”  The festival benefits from the aid and support of a variety of food and art organizations and businesses such as The James Beard Foundation, The Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health Department at New York University, Gastronomica Magazine, the Experimental Cuisine Collective, Franklin Furnace, Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology, Astor Center for Food and Wine, Tom Cat Bakery, Murray’s Cheese Shop, Unilever, Whole Foods Market, Employees Only, Ithaca Beer Co., and others.

* Umami is the fifth taste sensed by the human tongue (in addition to sweet, salty, bitter and sour). Umami is a Japanese word meaning “savory” or “meaty” and applies to a sensation common in meats, cheese and other protein-rich foods or to “earthy” foods such as mushrooms and soy sauce.