The world of Broadway, Tennis, and Culinary Arts were brought together at the annual Citi event to celebrate the U.S. Open.
On August 26th, Citi held its annual “Taste of Tennis” event to celebrate the U.S. Open with a dinner and concert at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.
A number of Tennis legends and stars were in attendance including John McEnroe and his band “The Johnny Smyth band, Tokyo 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist Belinda Bencic, Mike and Bob Bryan, Danielle Collins, and Sam Querrey.
Mike Bryan of the Bryan Brothers spoke briefly about being back in the city and celebrating the U.S. Open after more than a year of the event being postponed. Bryan said, “It’s great to be back in New York for two years, and attend the first taste of tennis they’ve had in a long time. It just feels great to be socializing with friends and seeing people that we haven’t seen for a long time. This is always one of the most fun events before the US Open so it’s a lot of players showing up with the best chefs in the city.”
All walked the blue carpet before heading inside for a multi-course provided by the Citi Taste of Tennis Culinary team: Jassi Bindra (Punjab Grill) John Mooney (Bell, Book & Candle, Bidwell), Fany Gerson (La Newyorkina), Wenford Simpson (The Simpson), Suchanan Aksornnan (Baoburg), John Doherty (Black Barn Restaurant) and Alex Fortini (Tarallucci e Vino). For the past three weeks, these chefs have toured throughout NYC to provide free food to New Yorkers in preparation for the event.
Taste of Tennis also had performers from Broadway’s Chicago (NaTasha Yvette Williams), Waitress (Emily Koch), and The Wanderer (Michael Wartella Lance Roberts, Jess LeProtto, Jasmine Rogers, Stephen Cerf, Billy Finn) to help promote the re-opening of Broadway.
NaTasha Yvette Williams spoke about the vibrancy of taking part in Chicago which has been one of the longest-running shows on Broadway and being back on stage. Williams said, “Chicago is an extraordinary show for women and people of all genders, races, and everything. I’d love for people to just come back and support the industry, and I’m also going to be in a new show called “Chicken & Biscuits.” So support all of these shows. The theatre industry and lots of industries have just suffered tremendously during this pandemic, and now’s an opportunity for us all to just get back to life.”
The 2021 US Open begins August 30th until September 12th.
