Monday night TheKnockturnal was invited to meatpacking hotspot Opus for a Belvedere vodka cocktail party to celebrate the launch of EAT (RED) DRINK (RED) SAVE LIVES – the culinary world’s fundraising campaign against AIDS.
After being ushered past the velvet rope separating the event from the crowds of tourists strolling down Gansevoort Street, we were met by an array of women in shiny red dresses offering us trays of special red-themed Belvedere cocktails. We started with a drink called the Be Inspir(Red), a mix of Belvedere vodka, pomegranate juice and club soda, but our favorite of the evening had to be the Belvedere Wild (Red) Cobbler (a mix of Belvedere Wild Berry vodka, Chandon and fresh berries) – although the Belvedere (Red) Gibsons looked the most impressive: served up with red vermouth.
Cocktails were accompanied by some decadent hors d’oeuvres, including lobster salad on toast, fried macaroni and cheese balls dipped in truffle sauce, and cheeseburgers so large they probably cannot correctly be classified as sliders. The ‘summer picnic’ style comfort food paired very well with the light summer drinks, and after several Belvedere cocktails on an empty stomach we were happy that the ‘eat’ portion of the evening didn’t take a back seat to the ‘drink’!
The crowd was rather distinguished, with predominantly suit and blazer attired guests, which led to a lot of networking among the culinary and media professionals in attendance– especially after the drinks started flowing. A good time was definitely had by all, the evidence of which was the many attendees who donated to the Global Fund to Fight Aids on their way out.
-Russell Klein
