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What We’re Eating This Summer

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Summertime is one of the rare times of the year when we have a chance to enjoy a little bit of R&R. Some members of our Great Performances family took time to see loved ones, explore various parts of the world, and, of course, enjoy some delish meals! As we gear up for a busy Fall and Winter season full of events, we’re taking a moment to share some of our Summer adventures.

Sarah Waxman, Event Producer

While in Europe every meal I had was exquisite, but the highlight for me was this Sea Bream Ceviche with mango purée and fresh tomatoes and grapefruit. If I could recreate this in my apartment, I’d eat it every day!

 

Other honorable food mentions from our trip in France/Italy are falafel from the Jewish quarter of Paris, a fully plant based quinoa appetizer with the freshest veggies I have ever tasted, many, many bowls of carbonara, and of course, prosciutto and melon.

Edwin Victoria, Warehouse Inventory Specialist

This summer, I traveled to Pittsburgh for the weekend, to visit some of my friends. While there, I had the chance to try their popular local pizza shop, Beto’s Pizza. A Pittsburgh Staple. Just like Primanti Brothers, this pizza shop has their twist on a typical dish.

 

The base dough and tomato sauce gets cooked in an oven, and they finish it by adding cold shaved provolone cheese. Their toppings are served cold, including their cheese. Instead of ordering by the slice, you would order by the “cut”, which is typically a 4”x4”. If you order a tray, you would have 28 cuts.

 

The pizza is unusual but it’s a new take on what you call pizza. You can taste how rich and savory their tomato sauce is. With the cold ingredients, it oddly works fantastic. I would rate this place 10 out of 10 stars. If I’m ever in Pittsburgh again, I would definitely come back to Beto’s.

Wen Shuan Yang, Event Producer

My parents wanted to visit me in New York from Taiwan. To make their long 18 hour flight easier, we decided to meet up in Hawaii and make it a vacation instead.

 

Everything about this trip felt like a dream. We spent most of our time on the Big Island exploring the incredible nature and away from “resort”. The landscape and the vegetation were like nothing I have ever seen. From sunset and star gazing at Mauna Kea, lush greenery of Hilo, local farms and Volcano National Park, to snorkeling all around the island with Sea Turtles, Dolphins and Manta Rays at night. We felt the love and the deep connection from locals to protect their precious surroundings, and beauty of living a sustainable life.

 

Needless to mention, the food was just as amazing. We went to the roots and had the freshest Poke in the world. If raw fish is not your thing, every restaurant offers grilled local fish such as Ono, Opah, Ahi Tuna, Aku, Mahi Mahi… A huge variety of fresh ripe fruit was also part of our everyday diet, such as lilikoi (passionfruit), guava, papaya, mango, dragon fruit, longan, coconut, pineapple… made my Taiwanese tummy felt like home 🙂

 

Returning to the city, it’s easy to forget how effortless it is to connect back to the nature. The land we give love to will give us back more than we can imagine.

Molly LeGrow, Event Producer​

This summer I became an aunt for the first time! My niece Abigail was born on 7/10/2024 and I will not stop talking about her or showing pictures of her to everyone around the office. She is the cutest little peanut in the world and over the last month and a half I have loved watching her take in the world. When I went home for her birth, the next night I bought my mom and grandfather dinner to celebrate welcoming her first grandchild and his first great-grandchild! In New England (we are from Plymouth, MA), we love a nice seafood dinner for special occasions, so I told them to get anything they wanted from our favorite restaurant down the waterfront. That was such a nice meal to eat good food and celebrate the addition to our lives. I don’t have pictures of that particular dinner but have no shortage of pictures of my Abby girl!

Mike Deuel, Executive Chef of Catering Operations

In late July, Chef Michael, Chef Chad, and I went up to Katchkie Farm to camp overnight before an event. We had fun picking vegetables and herb for both out dinner and the next days event.

 

Farmer Jon and his family came over and we toasted corn and had a wonderful dinner. We made flatbread pizzas with farm veg and enjoyed the campfire.

 

The following morning, we fire roasted pink potatoes in the pizza oven as well as many other vegetables for the guests. It was a great way to spend time on the farm.

Morgan Golumbuk, Senior Event Director

If you’re going to travel to eat, you should go to Spain. And if you’re going to go to Spain, you should eat pan con tomate as often as you can.

 

Across four days in Barcelona, I ate at least four iterations of the signature dish, plus an indulgent amount of jamón serrano, heaps of patatas bravas, two different cocktails from the number one bar in the world, an otherworldly piece of fried chicken, a vegetable-packed beef sandwich that sparked a nostalgia for the time when I lived just a few kilometers away (with just a few euros to my name), and a dish of sea bass, strawberries, and slivered almonds that will stay in my memory for years to come.

 

But the crown jewel of my vacation was the reason I decided to return to Spain in the first place: a day trip to Girona to dine at the renowned El Celler de Can Roca. In 2018, Great Performances had the honor of producing “Once Upon a Kitchen,” a star-studded event featuring El Celler’s Joan Roca alongside chefs Massimo Bottura (of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy) and Mauro Colagreco (of Mirazur in Menton, France). The event was led by GP Managing Director Ronnie Davis, who graciously called on his El Celler contact in hopes of getting me a seat at one of their coveted tables. The meal was no less than spectacular; spanning 19 courses and five hours, it was full of bold flavors and inventive presentations, my favorites being an olive tree bonsai with olive ice cream, a yin and yang-looking dish of leek and cod in pil pil sauce, and a piece of cocoa-covered foie gras nougat. Oh, the places you’ll go as a Great Performer!

Ilgaz Sen, Event Producer

Sharing a lovely dinner that I had this summer in Bodrum, Turkey at AZUR, a Michelin star restaurant right by the Mediterranean. The warm octopus with fresh potatoes and green olives, grilled octopus with chipotle pepper sauce and the hummus with calamari were my favorites.

Linda Abbey, Executive Vice President

Idyllic conclusion to wind down summer: Birthday dinner with friends at The Café at the Chanler in Newport Rhode Island.

 

The delectables included:

 

First Course: Sweet Corn Panna Cotta with Lobster, Heirloom Tomato, Cherries, Basil

 

Entrée: The best Sea Bass I have ever enjoyed – freshly caught earlier that day in the water shown in this photo – served with a creamy potato puree you want to go swimming in

 

Dessert: Calamansi Citrus Bavaroise, Stone Fruits, Valrhona White Chocolate, Anise

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