Cooking with Zac Posen

So there is a running joke in my family about Zac Posen's eyebrows that inevitably led to me meeting the famous fashion designer turned celebrity chef.

The Cover of Posen's New Book (Found on Amazon)

My sister, Maddie, has long been obsessed with her makeup and is particularly known for her own eyebrows. She pencils them in each day, glaring and smiling into the mirror to ensure that they are perfectly even with every facial expression she might take use of throughout the day. She-like me and my mom-is a big fan of Project Runway. We all watch the newest episode of the week, and I generally receive a text following each Thursday premiere that reads, "Those brows."

I have come to know exactly what this means. Maddie has become completely obsessed with the perfectly set hairs that rest on this beautiful man's forehead. Whereas she pencils them in for perfection, his appear to be totally natural. I have always found her love for Zac Posen's eyebrows comical, so I informed her that if I were ever to meet the eyebrow man of legend, I would let him know how wonderful his brows truly were.

Little did I know, I would have the opportunity about two weeks later.

I saw an event coming up on Facebook that showed Zac Posen doing a book signing for his new cookbook at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square. I didn't realize his cookbook was coming out so soon-the next day-so I just "liked" the event and went on with my day. I later received a notification where my sister had commented on the fact that I had liked the event, and it simply said, "Those brows." I laughed to myself, but then I remembered my promise to her that I would tell him about his eyebrows and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity.

Now, when I meet influential people that inspire me, I like to write them a letter and let them know how they have impacted my life. I honestly feel a strong connection to Zac Posen, not just in the fact that we are both designers, but my whole family are chefs and we both have very similar outlooks on work and life. I decided to include my portfolio with the letter, but I was afraid he wouldn't look at any of it if I didn't put them in an intriguing enough package. After spending my lunch break brainstorming, I was ready to pull an all-nighter to impress the man.

My Cookbook themed card - Closed View

I decided to give the card a cookbook theme since that's what the Q & A was about anyway. I drew the fish with a little asparagus "Z", then but the lemon seeds to resemble an eyelet edged fabric. It was very important for me to blend fashion and food as his book did, but also as I have done in years past with my family. When the card is opened, it reveals the other vegetables hiding below along with a fashion figure wrapped in a lettuce gown.

My Cookbook themed card - Open View

I hoped this would be enough to get me noticed by Mr. Posen, but I also decided that I should address the card to him in what I hoped he would find more cute than creepy:

My Cookbook themed card - Back View

I allotted myself twenty minutes of sleep that night and was ready to go when the Q & A began. I wore a Shelby Rider original as Zac Posen always says it is important for young designers to wear their brand. The interview was led by Debbie Mazar-a chef herself. She was a lot of fun and had about twenty pages of hand written notes about Zac's life that she had to flip through a few times for a quote or two.

A (blurry-sorry!) photo of Posen and Mazar. Mazar wearing Zac Posen, of course!

When the Q & A was finished, I was able to walk up and give Zac Posen the envelope I'd made for him. He flipped it over and seemed to be fairly impressed when he said, "Wow, did you make this?" He smiled when he opened it to see the fashion sketch, so I hope that meant he liked it.

Unfortunately I didn't get to spend too much time speaking to him as Lyris-a model from Project Runway-walked up behind him and drew his attention, but I did get to tell him about his eyebrows as I had promised my sister I one day would. He and his whole team of people laughed and I can't help but wonder if anyone else has ever approached him about the subject of his brows.