Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament also offers food, wine, and fashion

Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament also offers food, wine, and fashion
By Kory Loucks
Published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 10:07 PM EDT
NEW HAVEN — Wimbledon might have its strawberries and cream, but the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament has its delectable lobster rolls, delicious crepes, top-quality hot dogs and hamburgers, and much more at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale starting Friday, Aug. 20.

“Our overall strategy is to have something for everyone,” Anne Worcester, tournament director, says of the tournament’s food offerings, adding that with all the choices, “It’s impossible to lose weight this time of year.”

In the food court the tournament will have selections including lobster rolls at One Fish, Two Fish, crepes at Crepe Express, grilled high-quality hot dogs and hamburgers at The Café, gourmet pizza at Courtside Pizza, and ice cream from Ben and Jerry’s.

Worcester says New Haven has become an international culinary destination, and it has been the organizers’ goal to feature some of the area restaurants at their Food and Wine Festival from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 25.


This is the third year for the event, which sold out in the first five weeks, Worcester says. Tickets cost $125, and the festival will include selections from 21 New Haven restaurants and box seat tickets to that evening’s tennis match.

Master chef and cookbook author Jacques Pepin adds star power to this popular event. Pepin is a tennis fan, which made the pairing a natural.

“He’s passionate about tennis,” Worcester says of Pepin. “That’s how we made the connection.”

Each of the restaurants was asked to offer a savory and a sweet dish.

Donna Curran, co-owner with Chef Denise Appel of Zinc and Kitchen Zinc Artisan Pizza and Bar, says the event gives them an opportunity to feature some of their food, including chilled corn and cilantro soup with blue crab salad and summer melon terrine with basil and yogurt foam.

Their offering from Kitchen Zinc will be toasted quinoa with arugula pesto and Hudson Valley goat cheese buttons with raspberry drizzle.

“It’s a fabulous way to spend a night,” Curran says. “Once you get your ticket you can eat as much as you want. It’s a lot of fun and a great bargain too.”

David Foster, who owns Foster’s, is serving edamame hummus on sesame flat bread and for his sweet dish he is serving s’mores crème brulee, with white chocolate crème brulee and chocolate ganache, graham crackers, and toasted marshmallows.

“These are both part of our menu and indicative of what we offer,” Foster says. “So if you like it you can come to our restaurant.

“I think it is a great thing,” Foster says of the festival. “It is a great way to showcase the restaurants in town.”

Chef Jean Pierre Vuillermet with Union League Café is serving a sophisticated dish of braised beef cheeks with a condiment of mixed vegetables and capers in white wine with orange zest.

Vuillermet says it is similar in flavor to a beef bourguignon but lighter.

The dessert is a chocolate pot de crème, which is like a rich and velvety chocolate mousse.

Vuillermet says he is a tennis fan who has been involved with the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament for years.

He says he enjoys the food and wine event because “it gets us out of the kitchen and gets us to meet with other chefs.”

Chef Claire Criscuolo, with her husband Frank, owns the vegetarian restaurant Claire’s Corner Copia and the Italian restaurant Basta Trattoria next door.

From their vegetarian restaurant, which has been in New Haven for 35 years, they are going to offer a trio of brochette with toppings of truffle and organic mushrooms, artichokes, and organic white bean with broccoli rabe.

For their sweet offering she says they will have mini cupcakes and their signature Lithuanian coffeecake.

“We have gotten quite a cult following” for the coffeecake, Criscuolo says.

From their Basta restaurant, they are offering orecchietti pasta with organic arugula from their garden, extra virgin olive oil, young garlic, and flecks of pepper from the Amalfi coast in Italy.

“It’s so much fun,” Criscuolo says. “It’s a beautiful combination of a joyous event with excitement. It’s the most exciting day of the year.”

Other participating restaurants include 116 Crown, Barcelona, Bentara, Bespoke, Caseus, Central Steakhouse, Geronimo, Heirloom, Ibiza, John Davenport’s, L’Orcio, Miso, Pacifico, Thali, and Thali Too.

On Tuesday, Aug. 24, another sold-out event is the wine-tasting evening, featuring a representative from Riedle Crystal who will speak about why using the right wine glass is just as important as choosing the right wine.

The event also includes a wine tasting, light hors d’oeuvres, and a suite pass to the Courtside Club overlooking Stadium Court.

There still are some tickets available for the tournament’s third annual Vineyard Vines Ladies Day Luncheon and Fashion Show hosted by Island Time, on Thursday, Aug. 25, starting at 11:30 a.m., which will include a fashion show and luncheon, along with box seats to the afternoon’s tennis matches.

Worcester says some of the male tennis players escort the models, who are wearing fall fashions, down the runway.

“It’s really quite amazing,” Worcester says.

All the participants receive a gift bag filled with valuable items that alone are worth at least as much as the $105 ticket price, she says.

For more information, visit the tournament’s website at:

www.pilotpentennis.com