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Scent Dinner with Chandler Burr in New York City

Posted by Robin on 12 November 2009 41 Comments

appleChandler Burr will be holding a Scent Dinner at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York City on Wednesday, December 2 at 7 pm:

An olfactory expert and connoisseur, Chandler is a sensory genius who has created the most unusual dining experience we've ever heard of: A celebration of the world's great gourmet gourmand scents, crafted by Chandler and paired with our favorite seasonal delicacies.

The cost is $250 per person, call 212.759.9008 to reserve a spot.

Filed Under: perfume in the news
Tagged With: chandler burr, new york city, scent event

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41 Comments

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  1. Absolute Scentualist says:
    12 November 2009 at 10:02 am

    I shudder to think about the want list I’d walk away with after a dinner like this one. But I love this idea, or any event where I can just totally get lost in my remaining heightened senses. It would be fantastic, but I’m not exactly in the neighborhood. :) Too bad.

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 10:05 am

      From what I’ve read about these dinners, they don’t sniff perfumes that perfumistas wouldn’t know about already (in other words, I don’t think they’re smelling obscure scents)…I think the idea is more the pairing with the food, maybe “seeing” something new about the perfume.

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  2. Absolute Scentualist says:
    12 November 2009 at 10:24 am

    Ah. Good. Then I can just stick with my Panera and Macy’s. :)

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 12:38 pm

      :-)

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  3. miss kitty v. says:
    12 November 2009 at 10:58 am

    I love Chandler Burr, but I’ll stick to his books and blog. I’ll save that $250 for perfume. :)

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 12:42 pm

      I think you get some freebie perfumes…but yeah, for my $250 I’d rather pick them myself. If you’ve got $ to burn though, this would be fun.

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      • Joe says:
        12 November 2009 at 1:40 pm

        I’ll keep that in mind when I have $ to burn… or I’ll pass this announcement to all my friends who do.

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  4. GalileosDaughter says:
    12 November 2009 at 11:07 am

    I like Chandler Burr–I really do–but “sensory genius”?

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    • miss kitty v. says:
      12 November 2009 at 11:38 am

      I was thinking the same thing.

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    • Daisy says:
      12 November 2009 at 11:53 am

      then it’s just one more step to “Sensory Super Hero” at which point he gets to wear tights and a cape….

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 12:39 pm

      Hopefully that came from someone other than Chandler Burr.

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  5. abirae says:
    12 November 2009 at 11:58 am

    I love Chandler Burr’s columns but haven’t seen one in the NY Times in a good while. Is he still writing for them? Am I just having trouble finding his columns? Is he on hiatus to focus on a different project (like a new book)?

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 12:39 pm

      I really don’t know. There have been huge cutbacks at the NYT, but he is still describing himself as the scent critic for the NYT, so perhaps he’s just on a break.

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    • mikeperez23 says:
      12 November 2009 at 1:17 pm

      On temporary hiatus – he responded to me (via email) when I asked him a few weeks ago.

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      • Robin says:
        12 November 2009 at 2:29 pm

        Thanks!

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      • Chanterais says:
        12 November 2009 at 7:32 pm

        Oh, thanks for letting us know – I was feeling a little sad that the Times appeared to have binned Scent Notes. Now all I have to do is be patient. **Drums fingers, counts ceiling tiles, kicks dirt.**

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        • miss kitty v. says:
          12 November 2009 at 11:47 pm

          More time to spend on NST!!!!

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          • Robin says:
            13 November 2009 at 9:53 am

            ;-)

  6. Robin R. says:
    12 November 2009 at 12:02 pm

    What is a gourmet scent?

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 12:39 pm

      Beats the dickens out of me.

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      • Robin says:
        12 November 2009 at 12:41 pm

        Major oops: what it is is a typo. Fixed now. Gourmand. Thanks for noticing! Checked all the rest of it though, so any other weirdness is not my fault.

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        • Robin R. says:
          12 November 2009 at 1:55 pm

          Gotcha. I get it now. ;-)

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  7. Dolly says:
    12 November 2009 at 12:39 pm

    I would think it would be having to do with food notes in a fragrance. Anyhow, I love the concept of a scent dinner, but for 250.00, my nose just lost it’s appetite.

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 12:42 pm

      It’s obviously not geared towards those of us on a budget.

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  8. truthiness says:
    12 November 2009 at 1:28 pm

    I attended one of Chandler’s scent dinners. I thought the taste of the food overpowered the scents, which were niche fragrances familiar to all of us. Mostly, though, it smacked of a promotional effort to highlight and market a handful of fragrance lines. Chandler may have received samples from grateful vendors, but participants did not.

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 2:29 pm

      Thanks Truthiness! I thought the attendees got gift bags, too bad.

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    • miss kitty v. says:
      12 November 2009 at 11:48 pm

      Thanks for sharing the truthiness. :) Hee hee. Ok, I’m going to bed now…

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  9. Joe says:
    12 November 2009 at 1:39 pm

    How about I just spritz myself with one of my own Amouages and go spend $125 on dinner for myself? I think I’d enjoy that just about as much. ;)

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 2:30 pm

      Works for me!

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  10. chandlerburr says:
    12 November 2009 at 4:30 pm

    Hi, guys. Absolute Scentualist: “I shudder to think about the want list I’d walk away with after a dinner like this one. But I love this idea, or any event where I can just totally get lost in my remaining heightened senses.” That’s my hope—that people get totally lost in the scents. I think what Robin says is correct; for the most part I don’t use perfumes that perfumistas wouldn’t know. (I used Eau de Protection in my last dinner: I showed them Laotian benzoin for sensuality, rose abs for beauty, diphenyl oxide for an iron knife—the chef and I had fun with that one—but you guys all know the Etat Libre line already. With all due respect you guys usually know more perfumes than *I do; The Times keeps me from wandering too far from perfumes that a lay audience can actually comprehend and purchase, which I think is good guidance.) The one thing that even you would find interesting is smelling the raw materials, naturals and synthetics: Isobutavan, CO2 pink peppercorn, cis-3-hexanol, etc are not readily available, and the dinners take guests inside the construction of perfume by showing some fascinating raw materials (usually gourmand raw mats), then showing the role they play in structuring and powering the perfume. The point is not simply smelling perfumes but rather smelling their structural components. And—the second point—on Dec 2 for example having The Four Seasons Restaurant’s Fabio Trabocchi, one of the best chefs I’ve ever collaborated with, translate each scent and its raw mats scents into tastes. He did the most astounding job turning Yann Vasnier’s “Fig Splash” into a starter at our Nov 2 dinner (fundraiser for the NYC G/L Community Center). As for this “GalileosDaughter: I like Chandler Burr–I really do–but “sensory genius”?” I winced (very, very hard) the instant I read that in the draft invite copy and immediately wrote TFSR’s PR person—I suggested that we simply use my title; “NYT scent critic” isn’t bad, no?—but we’d been rushing, and the thing had gone out already. So: ouch. Miss Kitty, the dinners are def not geared toward budgets; I wish we could do less expensive versions, but they’re extremely expensive to produce, food, alcohol, labor etc.—we often feel like we’re producing a full-cast Broadway show, the result being similarly high ticket prices. There is no scent gift bag because though the brands politely offered, The Times decreed (correctly) that that’s not ethical journalism. Truthiness, I am very specifically *not promoting anything; for each dinner I choose (the fun part) the most interesting “parfums gourmands” I’ve found recently—for ex I’ve used James Heeley’s “Menthe Fraiche” and “Verveine” in the last two dinners; I think they’re extraordinary. And last, Abirae, it’s not you. As Robin noted, there have been huge cutbacks at the Times, and indeed I was on hiatus doing a big, unrelated writing project. We are now in the process of getting Scent Notes back up and running, and my editors are dutifully working on it, but given what they’re going through it’s taking a bit more time than we thought. Fingers crossed we should be back in action in a few weeks.

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 5:52 pm

      Thanks for the clarifications, Chandler.

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    • GalileosDaughter says:
      12 November 2009 at 6:08 pm

      Well, I heartily agree that you are an expert and connoisseur, but I have no idea what a “sensory genius” is! If the PR copy brings in a few more participants to the dinner, however, I think that’s wonderful–the world can always use a few more fragrance enthusiasts. I’m hoping that the dinners are a huge success.
      I’m so glad to see that your columns will be back in the NYT soon.
      Best.

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    • alltheprettythings says:
      12 November 2009 at 6:58 pm

      Chandler, thank you for your reply… you earned big kudos in my book for explicating Kenzo Flower and I am very glad to hear you will be back soon – I look forward to your reviews!

      The dinner… yes I understand the costs but I’ll have to pass this year. Ironically, I’ll be working on Christopher St that day and eating at Babbo that night – will definitely enjoy a glass in your direction though! And a confession: If you had a swag bag, I’d definitely be persuaded to switch dinners (it’s a sickness)!

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    • miss kitty v. says:
      13 November 2009 at 12:40 pm

      Chandler, we can be a cynical bunch of jerks. (Well, maybe I should only speak for myself…) I am sure your attendees will be a nicer bunch. :)

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  11. prism says:
    12 November 2009 at 7:50 pm

    Chandler doesn’t update his blog on themoment anymore, does he?

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 9:15 pm

      See his answer above…

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      • prism says:
        16 November 2009 at 6:45 am

        just saw it after i posted my comment

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  12. gemini says:
    12 November 2009 at 9:27 pm

    I would love to go to this! Perfume and exciting food are definitely my weaknesses. And shoes. . . . If there were a gallery of fabulous shoes thrown in, I’d contemplate the 30+ hours of travel to get from Central Asia to NYC!

    Along the same lines, I actually *will* be in London during the College of Fashion’s perfume primer. Have any of you attended anything like this? I’m trying to decide if I should sign up . . . .

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    • Robin says:
      12 November 2009 at 9:34 pm

      I have not, but it sounds fun! Denyse is very knowledgeable, & I’m sure you’ll smell some great stuff.

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  13. Tama says:
    12 November 2009 at 9:59 pm

    I’d like to do this, were I anywhere near NY and had some cash to throw around – sometimes an event is well worth an expense for the memories, you know?
    I’m annoyed that SF is so scent-event poor. Chandler – we’ve got some of the best chefs on earth here, too!!! ;-)

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    • Robin says:
      13 November 2009 at 9:52 am

      Maybe he’ll come there yet :-)

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