Photos: Food and wine flows at Stephan Pyles’ Celebrity Chef Dinner (December 4)

Charity event featured courses prepared by five different chefs.

Airon Peralta

Kitchen at Stephan Pyles

DALLAS — Stephan Pyles hosted the 12th annual Celebrity Chef Dinner on Sunday, featuring dishes from five chefs paired with wine to benefit one of the nation's largest culinary scholarships.

The sold-out event drew more than 100 diners who also participated in a live auction of food and wine packages. The event earned at least $15,000 -- enough to fund an entire scholarship.

As is the custom, the scholarship winner prepares an appetizer course served during the reception; this year's winner Reneee Morgan offered an appetizer trio that included a tomato martini shooter with a cube of mozzarella cheese.

The Dinner is a stand-out not only because diners get to sample courses from a spectrum of chefs, but also because it's an especially fun, wine-loving, and tolerant crowd. The assembly included Texas Monthly dining editor Pat Sharpe, DallasChocolate.org founder Sander Wolf, and local industry folks such as Lucian LaBarba.

David Garrido made scallops with bacon-potato ball, red jalapeno crema, pumpkin seeds, and chardonnay jello; Stephan Pyles & Joel Harrington made Bay of Fundy salmon confit with horseradish panna cotta, honeycrisps, and Manchego chicharron; Nick Badovinus made cider-roasted Texas quail, butternut squash grits, Luxardo-walnut compote; Jason Dady made lamb loin with root-vegetable spoonbread, fennel, wild mushroom, and smoked huckleberry Bordelaise; and Rebecca Rather finished the meal with sweet potato doughnuts with Garrison Brothers bourbon, bacon-caramel sauce, and caramel ice cream.

Matching wines came from Evening Land Vineyards, Sokol Blosser, Pedernales Cellars, Fontanafredda, and Trimbach.

As dessert was served, an auction called by Wine & Food Foundation of Texas board member Harvey Kronberg commenced, consisting of wines, tastings, and dinner for eight made by Pyles in the winner's own home.