Food for Thought

January 16, 2011

Marky & Calvin Trillin

Janine, Gae & Kathy



Food for Thought

The second session of Key West Literary Seminar continued throughout the weekend and while sometimes, two sessions on a single topic can lead to some repetition, the topic of food in literature is so broad and diverse that I get the feeling that there were entire areas that were not fully explored.

Molly O'Neill & Michael Ruhlman

Cooking, Dining, Sustenance, Hunger, Cultural Identity, Food as a character in story and even some discussion of drinking were all touched upon to a greater or lesser degree. It was another wonderful weekend of writers, critics and food experts discussing the varied aspects of what we all need and love- food.



The seminar provided a great backdrop for another fun and exciting weekend in Key West and as usual, while it dominated the calendar, it was by no means the only thing happening on the island. In fact two events occurred that I was able to catch at least a portion of this weekend that only added to a fun packed agenda.

John T.Edge

Patrick Symmes

The first actually had a great tie-in to the seminar in that it is one of the largest and most popular food events held in Key West each year, the annual Florida Keys Seafood Festival sponsored by the Florida Fisherman’s association. Thousands of attendees packed Bayview Park for the sixth annual seafood bonanza, including many participants of the literary seminar. I joined the throngs for lunch and had a heaping helping of delicious Florida lobster and fish.





Bethany, Todd & Howard



It was the second best meal of the weekend. The first was the incredible dinner at The Café on Friday evening as part of The Flavors of Key West dinners that were new to the literary seminar this year. Like last week’s fabulous meal at the Banana Café, the chefs at the Café went all out in creating a perfect selection of food and wine. We joined our friends Nancy, Mark and Jody as well as panelist Patrick Symmes for a wonderful and relaxed meal.

Nan, Patrick, Kathy, Jody & Mark

Chefs Keith, Lisa & Chris



The other cool event that I got to see was a pass by down Duval Street of the Wounded Warrior ride. This was the final portion of a long bike ride from Miami to Key West by a large group of soldiers, all of whom had been wounded in combat. Many of them needing specially constructed bicycles due to limb amputations, the riders toured down Duval Street to the cheers and waving American flags of the crowd lining the street. It was a sight that was at once humbling and awe-inspiring as these brave soldiers completed their own tremendous personal achievement while at the same time raising awareness of the many wounded veterans who have served our nation so honorably, it was a moving display and I was happy to have been able to see it.





The seminar continued all day Saturday and the wonderful Saturday evening program featuring Calvin Trillin and Roy Blount, Jr. was repeated again, this time with the additional shenanigans of a meal prepared and delivered on stage by fellow panelists Madhur Jaffrey and Molly O’Neill as well as a bacon-infused Key Lime Pie prepared by Key West’s own David Sloan and wait service by Marky Pierson of Key West Burlesque. It was another hilarious and entertaining evening.

Roy & Molly





Things wrapped up with the traditional reception at the Customs House and a late night at the Green parrot where the SPAM Allstars were the featured entertainment. A few of the panelists and many of the attendees, especially the younger crowd, made it over to the Parrot to close out the evening.

Kristin, Brynn & George

Kathy, Molly & Roy

Nick, Kevin, Kate & John

KWLS- Session 2

January 14, 2011



Adam Gopnik

Kevin Young

KWLS- Session 2

This year, the Key West Literary Seminar opted to hold dual sessions on consecutive weekends, which doubles both the excitement as well as the amount of work for those of us involved in presenting the seminar. The topic remains the same and even many of the panelists stay on the island to participate in both sessions. We also have a number who do not stay and their spots in the line-up are replaced by writers who arrive just for session two.

Curt, Ian, Jason & Jolly

Gael Greene



Among those who stayed on were Billy Collins, Roy Blount Jr., Calvin Trillin, Molly O’Neill and Madhur Jaffrey. In fact, Madhur Jaffrey took advantage of the down time between sessions to cook breakfast at local restaurant Help Yourself on Wednesday morning. It was a special treat for those who made it out as she made delicious and spicy Indian eggs scrambled with spices and potatoes that were truly wonderful.

Madhur Jaffrey



The holdovers were joined in session two by Elizabeth Berg, Kate Christensen, John T. Edge, Adam Gopnik, Gael Greene, Jane Hirshfield, Mark Kurlansky, David Mas Masumoto, Nicole Mones, Bich Minh Nguyen, Michael Ruhlman, Patrick Symmes and Kevin Young.

Nan Klingener

Miles, Jerry, Jason, Lisa & Alan



The second session got started with a stirring keynote address by Adam Gopnik. Gopnik is a writer at “The New Yorker” magazine and author of a number of books, most recently, “Angels and Ages: A Short Book About Darwin, Lincoln and Modern Life.” Constantly in motion and hitting an amazing number of themes and topics, Gopnik delivered an astounding address that you should take some time to listen to on the Littoral section of the seminar website.

Gopnik



Lisa

The crowd at the San Carlos was greeted upon their departure from the opening night address by Jason of Embury Cocktails who was serving Rosemary Gimlets from a vintage airstream mobile home. It was a sort of unauthorized gonzo bartending that went off without a hitch and provided participants with a nice cocktail for their walk over to the reception at the Audubon House and Gardens.





Lauren, Jason & Patrick Symmes

The weather was much cooler for this week’s reception and the heaters were in use over at the Audubon House, but the food and drinks were fantastic again and I think most who made the trek over were happy they did.

Mas Masumoto

Gael Greene & Key West icon David Wolkowsky

The seminar kicked into high gear on Friday morning when the regular schedule of talks, readings and panel discussions got rolling. These included the fascinating Gael Greene on her life as a restaurant critic, wonderful readings from Mark Kurlansky, Roy Blount Jr., Patrick Symmes and Jane Hirshfield and a couple of great panel discussions.

Madhur Jaffrey

Bich Minh Nguyen

Only Kevin Young was absent as he had missed his connection in Atlanta and ended up spending the day on Friday driving down the Keys from Miami. He would make it in time for his reading the next day, but missed out on the Friday panel that he was scheduled to participate in. The second session was not sold out and it made the job for myself and the volunteers much simpler and made it seem a lot more relaxed from my perspective. I actually was able to sit in on a lot more of the activity, which was great.

Volunteers Fran Ford & Nancy3 Hoffman

Christopher Kush of Voltaire Books

Embury Cocktails

Drinkslinger Blog

Foodie Frenzy

January 11, 2011

Calvin Trillin & Roy Blount, Jr.

Ruth Reichl

Molly O'Neill


Foodie Frenzy

“Anyone who thinks they’re too grown up or too sophisticated to eat caramel corn, is not invited to my house for dinner.” – Ruth Reichl

The first session of this year’s Key West Literary Seminar was a wonderful mélange of delightful readings, panel discussions, amazing dinners and enchanting receptions all focused on something that everyone has some interest in, food. More specifically food as it seen through the lens of the written word, though that seemed at times lost on many of the participants and food itself became the focus.



Billy Collins, Harry Matthews & Roy Blount Jr.

After all, everyone has an opinion on food, from the neediest hungry people who are simply seeking out their next meal to exist to the most elegant gourmands who spend their lives eating in luxurious excess. This conference tended to lean towards the latter, though some of the panelists made it a point that we at least consider the former as we made our way through the weekend.

Judith, Diana, Julia & Madhur

Miles

It would be impossible to pick out the best of what was a truly enjoyable and entertaining session. The readings and panels were fantastic and I think that was in large part due to the fact that so many of the speakers seemed to know each other and certainly loved the subject matter. They all seemed to be having a great time, which always translates into an enjoyable experience to those in the audience.

Madhur Jaffrey

Margaret & Margit

Julia Reed

Judith Jones, Jason Epstein & Molly O'Neill

Some of my favorites were the beautiful reading from “The Language of Baklava” by Diana Abu-Jaber, which prompted the audience to flood the bookstore and buy up every copy available as soon as it ended. Julia Reed was also a revelation; she seemed like the panelist that I would most like to hang out with for a few days, though I don’t imagine that I could keep up with her.

Ruth Reichl, Jonathan Gold & Frank Bruni



Of course the Saturday evening pairing of Calvin Trillin & Roy Blount Jr. was about as enjoyable as anything I have ever seen at the seminar. Amazingly funny, witty and totally at ease with each other, the two shared a wide-ranging discussion that included everything from Key West Chickens to the infamous Scrub Club. The seminar staff had worked a few shenanigans into the program, hoping to catch them off guard by having drinks delivered on stage, then having them serenaded by Nancy3 Hoffman on accordion and finally having Chinese food delivered to the stage. It was a fun evening.

Nancy3 with Calvin & Roy



George Kamide, Kim Adrian, Judy Blume & Brynn Saito

I also much enjoyed the readings by this year’s award winners. Three young writers were honored this year, Kim Adrian, George Kamide & Brynn Saito, each being introduced by our board member Judy Blume and then allowed to read from the work that earned them the award. It is an exciting time for them, but they each did beautifully.



Ilana

Liam

The social aspect of the seminar was in full swing as well; the reception on Saturday evening at the Customs House was especially nice and included a preview of their new exhibit on Henry Flagler’s railroad as well as delightful food and music by the lovely Melody Cooper. All in all it was a wonderful first weekend.

Jason

Melody Cooper

Doug

Miles