The Tony Awards are one of the toniest events in New York, but it’s quickly being foreshadowed by its after-party.
On Sunday, after Kinky Boots won Best Musical, Pippin for Best Revival of a Musical, and Patina Miller for Best Actress in a Musical, thousands of beautifully dressed guests headed over to The Plaza for the highly anticipated post-Tony’s soiree. They navigated through the Palm Court, the Terrace Room, The Plaza Food Hall, and the namesake Todd English Food Hall.
Courtesy of WireImages (along with the feature image)
English’s preparation for the expected 2,000 guests wasn’t as hectic as one could imagine. The Food Network star appeared very relaxed. “Preparing for the after-party isn’t really difficult for us,” he said. “We have to do the same kind of thing every night for dinner, so we’re used to it.”
Menus are started two weeks in advance, and daily food deliveries start coming in a week prior to the event. Most of the food is prepped before Sunday arrives so that the day of the event can run as smoothly as possible. How does English choose which food will be served? ”It’s a combination of a few things: it’s a late night party so everyone comes out of the Tony’s starving. We go for a menu of comfort food that’s interesting as well.”
The amount of food at the event was impressive to say the least: this year there were 30 pounds of cheese, 550 oysters and 250 pounds of pasta, and all in all more than 12,250 pieces were served. However, the celebrity chef stayed true to his easy-going reputation and strolled around the party arm in arm with fashion designer girlfriend Candice Sonneman. Other guests of the after-party included Tom Hanks, Debra Messing, Darrin Criss, Mike Tyson, Sienna Miller and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Todd English and the writer,
Naomi Pinkus, at the after-party.
Whereas upstairs the Palm Court and Terrace Room were as usual flawless and pink and sparkly, it was just that – as usual. The fare included creamed spinach, cheese tortellini and bread pudding, while the bar featured fine wines such as Chianti Classico and Sauvignon Blanc. “[The Palm Court] is more traditional in style and we’re more international,” English said. “It’s English/American tea room versus tapas all over the map.”
Three years ago, when the Todd English Food Hall was approached for the after-party, English was overjoyed. “I’ve always loved theater, I even studied it a bit in college, so this is great. I’m just amazed that I can participate in one aspect of the theater world.”
To say the least, the food at the Todd English Food Hall was plentiful and lots of bars – oyster, sushi, taco, dumpling and pasta. The event even featured English’s daughter Isabelle’s Curly Cakes cupcakes. The libations were fun and themed, named after the night’s big winners: Kinky Boots Cosmopolitan, The Lucky Guy scotch and soda, The Golden Boy margarita and The Glass Slipper Kir Royale.
“This event is really interesting because it’s unexpected. Guests come and realize, ‘Wow. There’s a lot of food, and a lot of drinks.’ Normally when you go to these events its really hard to get either of those.”
Each year, one dish stands out. English determined that last year the biggest hits were the lobster hush puppies and the whole monkfish stuffed with onion, garlic and citrus. This year, while there were eclectic and unique items such as the lune fish crushed with salt, stuffed with crab and topped with an avocado vinaigrette, the favorite was something much simpler. Both English and Megan Hilty of the TV show Smash agree, “The chicken parmesan sliders, for sure.”
-Naomi Pinkus