08.19.10

Menus Now Available for James Beard Foundation Cookin’ in the Bluegrass Celebrity Chef Dinner Series at Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games

Posted in 2010 Games, Fortnight Festival, Lexington, World Equestrian Games at 9:56 pm by Press Release

LEXINGTON, KY—36 Day to Go—Menu selections are now available for Cookin’ in the Bluegrass, a celebrity chef dinner series to be held each night of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, September 25 through October 10.

Each menu features a cocktail hour with Kentucky wines and appetizers, a three-to-five course dinner featuring Kentucky Proud products, and a dessert course. The detailed menu for each night, as well as the link to purchase tickets, is available now ( http://www.alltechfeigames.com/content.aspx?id=3776. )

Each dinner will feature two celebrity chefs, many of whom are James Beard Award-winners, and one Kentucky-based chef, cooking side-by-side at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Farmhouse restaurant. Each night, 80 guests will enjoy dining experiences that replicate the sumptuous dinners held at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City.

The celebrity chefs and local Kentucky chefs have been collaborating on recipes, use of Kentucky products and how to best blend their culinary styles for the past several weeks.

“James Beard, who happened to practice the use of regional cuisine, would be delighted at the wide range of local ingredients and food products featured in the menus,” said Susan Ungaro, President of the James Beard Foundation Each night will be an enlightening and enriching experience for our guests.”

The James Beard Foundation has partnered with the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation and the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games for Cookin’ in the Bluegrass. This dinner series will occur each night from September 25-October 10, 2010 in Lexington, Ky, as the Kentucky Horse Park hosts the world championships in eight equestrian sports.

Proceeds from Cookin’ in the Bluegrass will benefit the James Beard Foundation, The Kentucky Horse Park Foundation and the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

About the James Beard Foundation

Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation is dedicated to celebrating, preserving, and nurturing America’s culinary heritage and diversity in order to elevate the appreciation of our culinary excellence. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, James Beard, who died in 1985, was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts. Today, the Beard Foundation continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships to culinary schools, and publications, and by maintaining the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a “performance space” for visiting chefs. For more information, please visit www.jamesbeard.org. Find insights on food at the James Beard Foundation’s blog Delights & Prejudices. Join the James Beard Foundation on Facebook. Follow the James Beard Foundation on Twitter.
Media Contact: Diane Stefanie diane@rosengrouppr.com or 212.255.8224

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06.18.10

16 Days – 60 Nations – 8 World Championships – 99 Days To Go

Posted in Fortnight Festival, Kentucky, Lexington at 8:47 pm by Thomas

LEXINGTON, KY—June 18, 2010—The 100 Days to Go Celebration for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games was a hit June 17, and the Fifth Third Pavilion in downtown Lexington drew in hundreds of fans, residents and passersby to help celebrate the occasion.

“It was excellent,” said Diana Simpson, a resident of Lexington, about the celebration. “The speakers were great and there is a lot of enthusiasm. They are making it exciting.”

Those, like Simpson, who came downtown to celebrate, were able to preview some of the festivities that will be a part of the 2010 Games. Walking through the pavilion, visitors were able to grab themselves some Kentucky Ale; see pottery being made; view a Corvette inside and out; taste food from France, the host of the 2014 Games; eat free Dippin’ Dots ice cream and even pet a penguin.

In addition to booths, the celebration featured a fashion show showcasing 2010 Games Ariat apparel, a book signing by Jon Carloftis, world-renowned gardener, for his book “Beautiful Gardens of Kentucky,” and Alltech’s announcement of the line-up for the Alltech Fortnight Festival, a 16-day concert series to take place in venues around the state during the Games. (http://www.alltechfortnightfestival.com/en/pages/default.aspx)

WLEX-18 anchor Nancy Cox emceed the festivities and both she and First Lady Jane Beshear sported 2010 Games apparel on stage during the fashion show. Mrs. Beshear spoke to the crowd about how excited she is to have the Games come to Kentucky, and how Kentucky will benefit from the Games.

“It makes it a little more real that it (the Games) is impending,” said Lauren Howard, of Lexington, about the celebration. “I’ve been watching the (countdown) signs but this is a little more exciting.”

Howard, who brought her two children Tag and Noah, said she is sure she will be buying tickets and added that the celebration was a nice environment for the little ones.

The celebration featured many of the Games partners and sponsors including Alltech’s Kentucky Ale, Alltech Angus, The Kentucky Experience, Newport Aquarium, the Kentucky Horse Park, Ariat, Dippin’ Dots, Corvette and more. In addition, posters listing 100 reasons to attend the Games, brochures and ticketing information were provided.

As the festivities came to a close, so did one more day in the countdown to the Games. And with the 100 Days to Go celebration serving as just a taste of what the actual Games will be like, don’t be left without a ticket, click here to buy yours now.

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06.17.10

Fortnight Festival – Can you say party!

Posted in Fortnight Festival, Lexington at 11:58 pm by Thomas

I made it Downtown (Lexington) today for the 100 day kickoff celebration and Fortnight Festival announcements and came away impressed with the line-up. I have to say, for the non-horse music loving people the Fortnight Festival will be the biggest thing in Kentucky I am sure for several years to come and for us horse-music loving people, things just got that much more complicated. The number and variety of what I would call big name acts surprised me and I would have to believe that Dr. Lyons has some inside contact in the music industry to have pulled this together. There are a number of acts on here I would love to see because I suspect I might never get the chance again. So let me run down the list for all of you who hadn’t heard yet in order of dates (9/23 – 10/9);