Celebrity chefs take to the stage at Life Is Beautiful
What’s on the menu at this year’s Life Is Beautiful festival? How about raw chicken?
Yep, raw chicken, part of a Chefs on Stage demonstration by brother chefs Marc and Bryan Forgione.
“We’re taking the whole theme of the event and running with it,” said Marc Forgione, who has two restaurants in New York and one in Atlantic City. “Life can’t be beautiful without beautiful ingredients. We’re actually taking some beautiful ingredients and we’re going to demonstrate certain things raw that you might not usually think of eating raw, but because they are so beautiful, you can.” Besides chicken, he said, those things will be buffalo and swordfish.
The brothers originally were scheduled to do their Chefs on Stage segment with their father, the legendary Larry Forgione, but he had to cancel because of other commitments. But Forgione senior is playing a role in the event beyond the fact that he taught and inspired his sons.
“My father actually personally worked with a farmer in Northern California,” Marc Forgione said. “They raised those chickens together, and they slaughtered them together. Diseases in food are all produced by men’s mistakes.”
And Forgione bristles just a bit at a suggestion that eating raw chicken might be just plain weird.
“Have you ever had raw chicken?” he said. “It’s hard to have an opinion on what the texture of raw chicken is if you haven’t had it. We’ll tenderize the meat, along with some other beautiful ingredients.”
Bryan Forgione, who had hinted at “a little bit of a surprise” before his big brother spilled the beans, said their father will be there in spirit.
“It’s still the same,” said Forgione, a Las Vegas resident who is chef at Buddy V’s at the Grand Canal Shoppes. “The whole premise has a lot to do with family, what we learned and how we grew up. Part of it will be in honor of him as well.”
The Chefs on Stage demonstrations, which will be on the permanent stage at the Downtown Container Park, will occur in four segments Friday, five on Saturday and three on Sunday. Participating chefs include Eric and Bruce Bromberg, Scott Conant, Cat Cora, Duff Goldman, Hubert Keller, Donald Link, Sam Marvin, Spike Mendelsohn, Rick Moonen, Nancy Silverton, Jet Tila and Jonathan Waxman in addition to the Forgiones.
But they’re far from the only culinary components of the festival. The Culinary Village of last year’s inaugural event has been expanded this year to four culinary villages, one at each of the festival’s four main stages, with food from Las Vegas restaurants that will include vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Chef Jose Andres, whose Las Vegas restaurants include Jaleo and China Poblano at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and Bazaar Meat and Ku Noodle at SLS Las Vegas, will host the Sunny Day solar kitchen across from the Huntridge Stage. Andres, who’s culinary ambassador to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, and his staff will use solar cookstoves to prepare tacos without using fuel such as wood or charcoal.
Beverages will, as you might imagine, be a big part of Life Is Beautiful as well. The Craft Beer Garden, near the Ambassador Stage, will offer 12 craft beers including Stiegl Grapefruit Radler and Tenaya Creek Oktoberfest, and the 10 restaurant booths will include house-made soft pretzels by Lulu’s Bakery. Six food trucks will be parked nearby.
Wirtz Beverage also will offer beverages, with more than 55 specialty cocktails and more than 20 craft wines and beers.
There also will be VIP offerings. Those with VIP wristbands can go to the Downtown Stage for the cuisine of Brooklyn Bowl Las Vegas, including signature dishes such as potato and onion knishes, egg shooters, fried chicken wings and a crawfish boil.
Chefs participating in Life Is Beautiful in addition to those mentioned include Kim Canteenwalla, Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger, Frankie Pellegrino Jr., Shawn McClain, Mike Minor and Madison Cowan.
For details, a schedule and ticket information, go to www.LifeIsBeautiful.com.
For his part, Marc Forgione said he’s looking forward to being on stage with his brother.
“We’re very lucky,” he said. “Maybe it’s because we don’t see each other too often. We love each other very much and get along very well and respect each other and all that stuff.
“I haven’t had to hit him since he was 12.”
Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.
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