Venice - Lifestyle: Dinner Al Fresco in a
Venetian Campo photo Shoot. When at a dinner I met a group of Americans - friends of friends - who
where in Venice not only to photograph a food and travel story, but also were
having their young and talented chef (The Pines and Willow - Brooklyn) fly in to
cook for their Italian friends, I couldn’t resist the urge to invite myself
along too.
Above. The picture perfect setting; two table
were set up outside our hostess’s house in a campo in Santa Croce.
Lifestyle - Dinner Al Fresco. Hostess Pamela
Berry Morassutti Vitale and chef John Poiarkoff are getting ready as assistant
photographer Monique Baron looks on whilst renowned food and travel
photographer Andrea Gentl, who is one half of the photo duo Gentl and Hyers, edits
photos of the days shoot on the vegetable gardens of the lagoon, from where all the vegetables came for the dinner.
photograph courtesy MUVE
The Venetian
Orti. All the food served was picked or foraged
on the islands of Sant’Andrea and Sant’Erasmo, just two of
the Lagoon’s many vegetable gardens situated on islands, all the other
ingredients were also sourced locally.
Above. The ink and
watercolor painting will be shown in the Doge's apartment in the Palazzo Ducale in the
exhibition entitled Water and Food in Venice - A history of the Lagoon and
the City, the exhibition coincides with EXPO 2015 and its key theme
“Feeding the planet. Energy for Life”.
Piero Brustolado
Case, orti e terreni vacui della «commissaria» presso il ponte
Piccolo alla Giudecca –
post 1474
ink and watercolor on paper
Archivio di Stato di Venezia
Water and Food in Venice - A history
of the Lagoon and the City
Palazzo Ducale - September 26, 2015 – February 14, 2016
The
Chef. John Poiarkoff is the executive chef at The Pines and Willow in
Brooklyn, he flew in especially to cook all the fresh seasonal local food for the dinner party and photo shoot.
“John's
cooking is seasonally driven and built around local ingredients. Modern, with
high end techniques but rustic and approachable.”
Photo Shoot
Perine
Renard is photographed by travel and food photographer Andrea Gentl as she
captures the evening’s mood.
The Table is
Set
Hostess, art
director Pamela Berry Morassutti Vitale with her daughter Anna Morassutti Vitale
Emma Farrell brings glasses to the table
Alba
Morassutti Vitale
The Table is
Set
Gently
cooked then chilled mantis shrimp (canocchie) with young red onions, sea beans, purslane, wood sorrel peperoncino, and an emulsion of a broth made from their
heads and shells
In The
Kitchen
Chef John
Poiarkoff and restaurant entrepreneur (Willow, The Pines, Brooklyn) and
architect Carver Farrell
“Every
year we cook a dinner in the mountains of upstate NY and source all the
ingredients within 25 miles. This year we decided to join a group of
friends and cook it Venice instead. So all the ingredients we used were sourced
locally (vegetables from Sant Erasmo, fish from the sea etc. It was a great
challenge and fun to meet local farmers, fishermen and winemakers!”
In The
Kitchen
Grilled
Orata with peppers, tomatoes, capers, flowering yarrow, and wild bay leaf oil
Venetian Al
Fresco Dinner Party
Dusty,
Julian and Winifred Richards
Venetian Al
Fresco Dinner Party
"Granchi"
crab salad with cherry tomatoes, wild strawberries and tarragon
Venetian Al
Fresco Dinner Party
Anna and
Pamela
In the
Kitchen
A Madonna and
Child Mexican Retablos hang on the kitchen wall
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