New BBC Series Tells the Story of Selfridge London's Legendary Merchant

Well, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has done it again. This time their winning series is Mr. Selfridge, the story of the rise and fall of Harry Gordon Selfridge, American merchant extraordinaire.

And although Selfridge began his career in Chicago at Marshall Field, it was in London that he won lasting fame as the founder of Selfridges Department Store. Within its elegant walls, he redefined the shopping experience from one of merely purchasing an item into an exciting and singular experience.

He was the first to connect celebrities to in-store product promotion. He created such lasting marketing phrases as “Only XX days left ‘til Christmas” and “The customer is always right”. He blended dining, relaxation and style into a new form of client interaction that still affects our world today.

When a restaurant trains their wait staff to be informative rather than aggressive, they can thank Selfridge for establishing that prescient.  When diners are aware of (and expecting to enjoy) exotic ingredients from around the world, again it was Selfridge who first suggested such items should be offered to shoppers along with the traditionally expected.

Based on Lindy Woodhead’s book, Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge (not excluding, of course, Selfridge’s own text, The Romance of Commerce), the new series traces Selfridge raise to the heights of Edwardian society (complete with his very own castle) to the sadder days of the Great Depression and World War II.

Definitely a must-watch series, Mr. Selfridge offers a glimpse into the mind of a brilliant, yet very human, man whose courage and creativity still inspires us today, right down to the phrase, “How may we serve you?”

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Ferran Wine Collection to Be Going Going Gone at Sotheby's April Auctions

For 50 years the famed Spanish restaurant, elBulli, has collected over 8,000 bottles of legendary wines. 

Now, on April 3th in Hong Kong and later on April 26^th in New York City, Sotheby’s will be auctioning them all off in support of Ferran Adrià’s elBulli Foundation, a center to be opened soon by famous chef in Barcelona to study the creative process both in AND out of the kitchen.

Among the wines offered are three bottles of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti 1990, estimated at $32,500 to $47,500.  The largest selection of wines (more than 2,000 bottles) will be from Spain, featuring important vintages from Pingus, Clos Erasmus and Clos Mogador. Their estimated value ranges from $200,000 to $300,000.

Wine buyers can also look forward to 415 bottles of Rhone from Chateau de Beaucastel, more than 1,400 bottles of red Burgundy, more than 1,000 bottles of white wine and a large collection of all five first-growth Bordeaux vineyards.

But just in case multi-thousand dollars bottles of wine are not in your personal culinary budget, additional elBulli kitchen items will also be on the auction block.

Also available to the top bidder (starting at $1,000) is a white chef’s jacket signed by Ferran as well as a set of knives and signed siphon (both also starting at $1,000).

If these prices seem high, consider the cause that will benefit. The elBulli Foundation is a unique research center focused on creativity.

And as we all know, true creativity is both priceless and, sadly, rare. Bravo Ferran! May the discoveries you find at the Foundation inspire us all!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013