The StarChef’s Rising Stars gala last night attracted Johnny Iuzzini, master sommelier Laura Maniec, and the honored chefs themselves, who manned food tables as part of their reward. We spotted Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds sipping a sample from Blue Hill sommelier Claire Paparazzo’s table. “So far, I like this wine, this Pinot Noir. It’s easy to drink,” he said. The buzz of the tasting was a hazelnut-crusted duck with chorizo from Bobo’s Patrick Connolly, which later won best dish, but Face didn’t bother with food after a filling New York Diet this week. He calls his diet “good and wrong,” though stops at Jean-Georges (“The presentation was great, but the food actually tastes good”) and Freemans (for the grilled trout) seemed somewhat healthy. “I used to go to Sylvia’s, but I’m trying to stay alive a little bit,” he concluded.
