The Glass House

Editor in chief Dana Cowin invited nine visionaries to an anniversary dinner prepared by chef Peter Hoffman in architect Philip Johnson’s iconic Glass House.

“Create beautiful things. That is all,” the renowned modern architect Philip Johnson once said. At F&W’s 30th-anniversary dinner in Johnson’s extraordinary 1949 Glass House, on 47 acres in New Canaan, Connecticut, we celebrated this credo. The meal was prepared by chef Peter Hoffman of New York City’s Savoy and Back Forty, who has created menus for many Glass House private events. (Donors who support the Glass House site by contributing $50,000 or more to the National Trust for Historic Preservation may host a lunch or dinner in the iconic building.) Hoffman paid homage to seasonal ingredients the way the Glass House pays homage to the landscape: simply and powerfully. The chicken-liver crostini with sautéed apples, the spice-rubbed pork shoulder with lemon-parsley gremolata and the plum cake topped with honey-spiked mascarpone cream were all deeply satisfying, with a marvelous clarity of flavor. The guests were chosen to represent important innovators in the epicurean world. Just as Johnson was at the midpoint of his career when he built the Glass House, we believe the men and women in this esteemed group will continue to astonish and inspire us in the years to come. Said Johnson, “All great architecture is the design of space that contains, cuddles, exalts or stimulates the person in that space.” And for one night, we lucky few were stimulated by not only one of the world’s great spaces, but by the opportunity to imagine the next 30 years in wine and food.

Plus:

Meet the 10 Innovators at the Table

Published September 2008