Participant Media and DreamWorks Pictures teamed-up with the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership to celebrate the December 2nd in-home release of “The Hundred Foot Journey” with the foreign Diplomatic Corps, and emphasized the powerful role that food can play in diplomacy, cultivating cultural understanding and strengthening bilateral relationships through shared culinary experiences.
Following the cocktail reception, film screening, and panel discussion, food was prepared by Vikram Sunderam, the James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic and chef at modern Indian restaurants Rasika Penn Quarter and Rasika West End in Washington, DC.
World Renowned Chefs & Film Talent who attended the event included:
- Om Puri – BAFTA-nominated actor who portrayed Papa Kadam, the determined restaurateur in “The Hundred-Foot Journey”
- Juliet Blake – producer of “The Hundred-Foot Journey”
- Chef Art Smith – Executive chef and co-owner of Table fifty-two, Art and Soul, Southern Art, and LYFE Kitchen restaurants, formerly chef for Florida governors Bob Graham and Jeb Bush and, until 2007, personal chef to Oprah Winfrey.
- Samuel Kass – White House Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition Policy and Let’s Move! Executive Director.
- Mary Beth Albright – National food writer and commentator. She writes on food technology and food law for National Geographic’s The Plate and is a regular contributor to Washington, DC’s WTOP radio, Forbes Travel Guide, and various national news programs.
