Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Annual Taste of the Nation in Dallas serves 200 expensive meals on Sunday
Email
|
Print
|
Tell us your story
|
Comments (3)
|
The 2009 version of Taste of the Nation, an annual fund-raising food event whose proceeds go to fighting childhood hunger, took over F.I.G. Gallery on Ross Avenue on Sunday with:
Marc Lee
Bar at Taste of the Nation serving beer and champagne was the first thing you saw once you got inside.
- four-course meals prepared by Dallas top chefs
- too much beer and wine
- big-spenders who paid $500 per ticket or up to $10,000 for an entire table.
Chef Stephan Pyles served as Honorary Chair, as did Paper City regular Carmaleta Whiteley.
But the night's attention-getter was chef John Tesar. Along with publicist Terri Provencal, he signed on to be a chair while still at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. But then he left the Mansion in January. Not a Dallas chef anymore! Still, he came back. Because we still care about him -- deeply. At T.O.T.N., he announced that he's opening a restaurant called Tesar's Modern Steak and Sustainable Seafood in The Woodlands in August.
Marc Lee
Stephan Pyles addresses crowd at Taste of the Nation. Event chair Terri Provencal is next to him while chef John Tesar is at left.
Tesar was one of 20 or so chefs at the event, a roster that included Sharon Hage of York Street, Scott Gottlich of Bijoux, Julian Barsotti of Nonna, Tracy Miller of Local, Lynae Fearing of Shinsei.
Why this was better than the usual "tasting": They did a sit-down dinner. True, you didn't get to sample bites from every chef -- but your table of 10 did get a nice four-course meal. Some tables (hello, Nonna) got five courses.
Other participating restaurants included Craft, Charlie Palmer, the Landmark, Nobu, Fearing's, Cibus, and Sangria.
The tables that went most quickly were Tesar's, Fearing's, and Charlie Palmer. We got Sangria, which was filled entirely with other deadbeats non-paying attendees, including the guys who did the AV/slide show and three cowboy-hatted auctioneers from South Texas who did not say "hi" when we sat down.
Just like in Madrid, Sangria paced its four courses really slow. Everyone drank a lot of wine. But ha, those unfriendly auctioneers had to start the auction before the last two courses were served. I ate their fava beans; someone had to do it.
Marc Lee
Appetizer tapas at Sangria: stuffed olive, patata brava (fingerling potato with spicy tomato sauce), shrimp popper skewer with Riojana sauce, chicken croquette, and terrine with foie, apple, and caramelized goat cheese
Marc Lee
Poetry Texas egg tart, truffled white asparagus, local artichokes with testun di piedmonte, and fennel at York Street
Marc Lee
Charlie Palmer's Colorado lamb loin with sweet pea puree, lamb sausage, and morel and fiddlehead ragout
Marc Lee
Chef John Tesar's tenderloin of Texas Kobe beef on whipped potatoes with wild mushroom ragout. Fancy fancy plates.
Marc Lee
Tracy Miller, chef-owner of Local, and her staff assemble blackberry shortcake dessert at Taste of the Nation.
Marc Lee
Sangria's arroz Meloso de Montana -- a creamy mountain-style rice dish with rabbit, chicken, quail, and fresh fava beans, mmmm
See more stories in:
Find...
Latest Outbursts
- Our pal Rawlins Gilliland will be guest-DJ on KNON 89.3 Tuesday November 10th from 10 - midnight, spinning Latin tracks based on his recent KERA commentary o...
- Dean Foods pulls soy milk switcheroo
- North Richland Hills ponying up for businesses to improve curb appeal
- T&P Tavern in Fort Worth closed for remodeling
Today
Fall 2009 Dinner With Dialogue Series Eating "sustainably" -- without harming animals, farm workers, or the environment -- will be the topic at this dinner at Celebration restaurant, with author Pamela Walker plus Michael and Debby Sams of Full Quiver Farms from Kemp, Texas. More info
Latest comments
- www1Reventcom on Concert review: Snoop Dogg at House of Blues (November 8): so what about the show lady lol....
- ROCKN on Lewisville resident breaks Guinness World Record for longest drum roll: We all played that long. It started with about 50 drummers after the first few hours about half the ...
- Interestedcitizen5 on Group gathers to protest gay rights votes in Maine and Washington: The right of a woman to vote was added by constitutional amendment, approved by the legislatures of ...
- adkim on Ethics of Food panel stirs it up on Friday at Dallas Institute of Humanities: amen, donna....
Latest reviews
- cindyallentx on India West Fine Dining & Lounge: I went to this restaurant last friday had a wonderful experience. Love the low light romantic feel o...
- jognmcdermott on India West Fine Dining & Lounge: This place has it all good food sweet service. I proposed to my fiance here it was perfect! we loved...
- Billusa99 on Pappas Bros. Steak House: Agent 99 and I had dinner here last week for our anniversary and it was stellar! The somm. we had re...
Things you can't miss
Latest stories
- SMU student wins first prize at Lizst-Garrison International Piano Competition
- Upcoming Denton concerts - November 13-14
- Dallas VideoFest 22 names award-winning films
- Grill on the Alley at Galleria Dallas introduces gluten-free menu for lunch and dinner
- Frisco Cycling Club calls for legislation to protect cyclists







Comments
OEsophagus Anonymous
What happened to the picture of the olive? I really liked that.
5 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Travis Bush Verified
Heh..brunette hooch looks like she started on the champagne early..
5 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Billusa99 Anonymous
Bar?! The first thing I would have seen is the women behind a table.
Any Copper Canyon Chard? Any Copperhead snake? Any Copper River Coho? Any Coppers?
Don't cop out on us.
5 months, 3 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Post a comment