Food for Thought

Fashionable Feasts From The CFDA

Lauren David Peden

21 October 2009

ON Tuesday night, New York's Saks Fifth Avenue celebrated the launch of Assouline's American Fashion Cookbook with a party at Café SFA that drew Charles Nolan, Richard Lambertson, Selima Salaun, Yeohlee Teng, Stan Herman and Diane von Furstenberg, all of whom came out to sample Elie Tahari's Lamb Chop with Mint Sauce, Victor Costa's Vidalia Onion Crustless Tart and Zac Posen's Butterscotch Wafers, among other designer delectables.

"Food and fashion both start with an 'f,'" said von Furstenberg with a laugh. "And all designers love to cook!"

That certainly seems to be the case, judging from American Fashion Cookbook, the latest in a series of fashion-related tomes published by Assouline, for which the Council of Fashion Designers of America convinced more than 100 of Seventh Avenue's finest to provide their favourite recipe alongside a sketch representing the dish, be it Tory Burch's Andalusian Gazpacho, Costello Tagliapietra's Big Boy Buttery Popovers or Rachel Roy's Chocolate Ganache.

"It's kind of this hybrid cookbook/art book," CFDA executive director Steven Kolb said of the project, which boasts a forward by Martha Stewart and is the fifth - and bestselling - book produced by the CFDA.

"Cooking is hot - the Food Network is all anybody watches," he added as guests nibbled the wares while reading quotes from the book, which were reproduced on the floor of the café. "What this cookbook does is offer a personal glimpse into a designer and their lives - and people like that."

And who could resist Gela Nash-Taylor's Psychotic Exploding Chestnut Stuffing?

-----------------------------------------------

An interesting, if not eccentric, combination, combining fashion with food doesn't seem to be the first thing on a fashionista's mind after looking at those size zero models. It's almost as if the world can't make up their mind, should you be skinny, or indulging in home cooked food? It would be nice to have a look at, but I believe I'm at the stage where I am a student looking for quick, healthy meals rather than with time to cook a three course meal. I should really find out if my mother would be interested...