Miami, FL – May 20, 2021 – The bright, whimsical artistry of pastry Chef Antonio Bachour has been catching eyes and captivating taste buds for years. Beginning at iconic Miami hotspots like Scarpetta and The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort, Bachour has honed his craft at some of the most talented kitchens in town, and was selected as one of the “Top 10 Pastry Chefs” in America in 2011 by Dessert Professional Magazine. Puerto Rican-born Bachour and the namesake behind his flagship culinary concept, Bachour, which opened in Coral Gables, FL in 2019, opened the doors of his kitchen to Miami native, beloved South Florida restaurateur and James Beard Award-winning Chef Michelle Bernstein, and Tung Nguyen and Katherine Manning, the masterminds behind the former cult classic restaurant, Hy Vong, on Calle Ocho in Little Havana.
Together, this highly-talented quartet celebrated the release of Nguyen and Manning’s Mango and Peppercorns: A Memoir of Food, an Unlikely Family, and the American Dream (Chronicle Books, March 2021) – complete with a foreword penned by Bernstein herself – with an intimate and emotional dinner experience that honored the true spirit of the book. Bernstein, known to draw culinary inspiration from her childhood ballet memories, invited guests to indulge in moments of nostalgia with every bite of her passionately-crafted dishes. Nguyen and Manning turned Hy Vong into a beloved city landmark, whose critically-acclaimed food was praised in city guidebooks and on national best-of lists for years, and was a powerful relic of authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Much like Mango and Peppercorns, this dinner was a tribute to the power of resilience, friendship and the beauty of the American Melting Pot, elevated by wine from the Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits portfolio.