Fête photos: 25th American Wine & Food Festival

Primo Cut at Red Hot: Chef Puck's steakhouse knows how to do medium rare

Forget celebrating anniversary number 25 with silver; it's all about throwing the biggest food and wine festival in movieland. The American Wine & Food Festival kicked off its quarter-century anniversary with Red Hot—the swankiest barbecue and beef-tasting we've ever invited ourselves to—at founder Wolfgang Puck's latest Red Seven.

As if we weren't sufficiently full from the choice beef and sponsored drinks, Saturday night was spilling over with wine, food and epicures ready to get their gluttony on. To navigate the cobblestone streets of Universal Studios’ magical backlot, we smartly wore our flats and stretchiest jeans and got stupid-starstruck over the gathering of the nation's culinary supernovas. We may have been a little punch-happy-drunk, but we're pretty sure a spectacular Cirque-du-Soleil posse led us in a psychedelic dance up to the evening’s finale. A champagne dessert lounge—with drag queens, princesses, clowns and off-the-hook aerialists to get us soaring on our sugar high. How sweet it was.