8/31/09|Taste of Tennis: Andy Roddick, Tennis Greats and Star Chefs Tune Up for the U.S. Open
FIJI Water's new cooler cubes make their New York debut at Taste of Tennis.
FIJI Water participates at a lot of food events throughout the year. We love the chefs who attend, and FIJI Water’s smooth, neutral taste doesn’t interfere with food flavors. And did we say that we love food?
But Thursday’s event was special: It was the 10th annual BNP Paribas Taste of Tennis, which pairs tennis stars (Andy Roddick!) with celebrity chefs (Bethenny Frankel!) to serve up great food and drink to guests. All this to help kick off the U.S. Open, which starts Monday, Aug. 31.
Andy and Bethenny, who according to Wikipedia is a natural foods chef,† made a special cocktail for the crowd that used products furnished by Rums of Puerto Rico, the presenting sponsor. As they stood behind a large bar in the W Hotel NY ballroom, crowds of cameras, reporters and guests swarmed around them, trying to get a photo, a quote, or, more importantly, a drink. Quite the circus!
Chef Martin Maginley and Tomas Berdych dish it up at Taste of Tennis.
Chef Martin Maginley of Round Hill Resort in Jamaica (the country, not Jamaica, Queens) was paired with player Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic.† Chef Alfred Portale from Gotham Bar and Grill served guests sips of a silky corn chowder. Chef Wendy Israel of Baking by Design showed off her talents with a large cake shaped like a tennis court, complete with net and players, while DJ Mel DeBarge kept the room hopping with a great mix. And current Lleyton Hewitt coach Nathan Healey of Australia took the award for cuteness by working the room with wife Marnie and baby.
We got there early to set up the FIJI Water serving station, as the room gets really warm with all the guests and camera lights — everyone wants lots of FIJI Water, chilled, pronto. NYC saw the debut of FIJI Water cubes used to serve the bottles, which when lighted helped thirsty guests find us in the relatively dark room. Thank you to our FIJI Water servers John and Dmitri, who could not have been more helpful to guests, touring the ballroom with lighted trays and cold bottles. Now that’s service!
