Beverly Hills rings in September Fashion Week with Cuisine & Couture

Beverly Hills Conference & Visitors Bureau (BHCVB) continues its much-celebrated ‘Cuisine & Couture’ series by bringing a taste of September Fashion Weeks in New York, Paris and Milan to the heart of Beverly Hills. Honouring the destination’s intersection of couture fashion, fine cuisine and some of the most luxurious hotels in the world, Beverly Hills’ top chefs channel their creativity on the plate, producing culinary delights ‘dressed’ in this season’s trends. Cuisine & Couture ambassador Caitlyn Chase of @caitlynchase and Caviar & Cashmere has teamed up with chefs at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills and The Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel to showcase these delights together, while eight other restaurants are featuring special dishes and cocktails for diners to try from September 7 – October 15, 2023.

Acclaimed Chef Steve Benjamin, Culinary Director at the new Espelette at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, welcomes Chase to the kitchen, presenting Langoustine Papillote with Frisée Salad and Basil. The Langoustine and Basil, wrapped in brick dough, is deep fried until it reaches a translucent, light golden brown. The act of making the dish resembles the process of dressing for the runway in an alluring, statement silhouette. Eye-catching elements include playful dots of orange Espelette pepper powder and basil aioli drops, which play off the bold colors anticipated for this year’s fall collections. Chef Benjamin also prepares Chocolate Profiteroles with Chocolate Sauce, Chantilly and Chocolate Ice Cream, contrasting black and white to be emblematic of Fashion Week icon Karl Lagerfeld. Hailing from Paris, Chef Benjamin discusses with Chase how food and fashion have always intertwined throughout his career. The duo ends their time together with a toast of Diet Coke served in a Lalique glass, which was the same way that Karl Lagerfeld enjoyed drinking Diet Coke.

The Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel welcomes Michelin-starred Chef Phillip Frankland Lee of the immersive Sushi by Scratch Restaurants pop-up through October 31, 2023. Inspired by fall fashion trends, Chef Lee gives Chase an inside look into the award-winning, 17-course nigiri tasting menu. Likening the omakase experience to putting together the perfect ensemble – where each piece is so thoughtfully curated – Chef Lee teaches Chase how to make three courses: the Hamachi with pops of yellow, predicted to be a big colour for Autumn; the Akami, topped with caviar evocative of pearls set to trend this season; and Japanese Eel fried in torched bone marrow, reminiscent of fall textures like herringbone. At the end of the episode, Executive Pastry Chef Margarita Kallas-Lee – Sushi by Scratch Restaurants’ Co-Owner and Chef Phillip’s wife – recruits Chase to plate her Makrut Lime Ice Cream and Rice & Sesame Shortbread with coconut and matcha. Just like the final touches on an outfit, Chef Kallas-Lee’s treat offers a refreshing finish to the omakase tasting.

Beverly Hills visitors and locals can get a taste of September Week for themselves by order the following dishes and cocktails featured across the city’s hotspots:

• Tatel’s Chica de Ayer Cocktail: Featuring Tres Generaciones Blanco, Lo-Fi Gentian and Egg Whites, this cocktail is inspired by Spanish luxury brand Loewe for its refreshed, classic taste and delicate artisanal presentation with a tiny floral finish.
• THEBlvd at The Beverly Wilshire’s Black Truffle Gnocchi: Made with truffle cream sauce and parmesan cheese topped with black truffle snow, drawing from the dark romantic touches predicted for fall.
• CUT at The Beverly Wilshire’s Live King Crab ‘Louie’ Cocktail: This decadent dish, with Hokkaido uni, calamansi, avocado and a horseradish emulsion, evokes pops of red found in this season’s fall fashions.
• MR CHOW’s Pink Water Dumplings and Highroller Cocktail: The hot pink color of these dumplings, filled with lobster and shrimp, are wrapped in a thin layer of gluten-free dough and pays homage to the likes of Chanel and Valentino. Pair it with the bright pink Highroller tequila cocktail reminiscent of Chanel’s Chance Tendre Eau de Parfum.  
• The Hideaway’s Paloma Especial: A Cocchi Americano’s twist on the traditional paloma cocktail celebrates the merging of streetwear and Italian fashion houses seen at Fashion Week.
• Spago’s Camellia Flower ‘Vacherin’ Dessert: Drawing inspiration from Lagerfeld, Chanel and the iconic white camellia flower, the dessert captures the black and white motif with black currant sorbet, a touch of black honey, blackberries, crisp white camellia flower meringue and a poppyseed marble marzipan cake nodding to Lagerfeld’s German background.
• Crustacean’s Anna Sui Pink Me Up Cocktail: The boozy beverage with hibiscus-infused tequila, pamplemousse, maraschino and pineapple honours female designer Anna Sui – adored by the Asian females that lead Crustacean – and her love of bright pink colours.
• Fogo De Chao’s Samba Squeeze Martini: Inspired in this season’s fashion palettes on the runway, the martini combines both colour and flavour with its zestful blood orange and the mildly sweet taste of guava along with the honeyed flavours of the St. Germaine Elderflower liquor topped with fresh blueberries.

For more information on Beverly Hills, please visit www.lovebeverlyhills.com. The Cuisine & Couture: Fashion Week video series can be found on Instagram via @lovebevhills with additional content at @caitlynchase.