Sunday, March 17, 2013.
Big Crowd At Chef's Soiree.
While taking my walk around the grounds, I decided that I'm going to blow off Facebook and Twitter, and overtly claim that I am not on either one. If anything worthwhile has come from my having five thousand friends and a line of vapid notes stretching to infinity, I haven't seen it.
Historically, strange weather has dogged the long-running Chef's Soiree, a springtime fundraising event in Covington. I remember torrential rains and freak cold. This year, floods threatened when the Bogue Falaya River came out of its banks and lapped at the bridges. The Soiree's home is Bogue Falaya Park, right next to the river. But the weather turned, the water went down, the sun came out, and the party began as scheduled.
In its early years, many chefs came from the South Shore to make the Soiree the big deal it has become. I suspect that was largely due to Chef Chris Kerageorgiou of La Provence. He was very well liked by fellow chefs, and when he asked for help, they showed up. There weren't as many chef-supported events to compete with back then, either.
Now the Soiree features North Shore chefs almost entirely. I even heard a rumor that a South Shore culinarian was chided for invading this North Shore event, but I don't believe it. In any case, there are plenty enough great chefs in Mandeville, Covington and Slidell now. Carmelo Chirico, for example, is one of the new breed.
Also here was the largest crowd we've seen for Soiree. Some lines for food were very long, even though there were many vendors. The Soiree may have outgrown its layout, and needs a new traffic pattern.
The longest lines led to the Outback's table, and to that of The Chimes. The first is a mystery of the North Shore palate. The Chimes is easier to figure: they were grilling oysters, and nothing brings crowds like that, Drago be praised.
The best food was, as usual, being doled out by Pat Gallagher. He's been part of Soiree since it began. He's predictable: he always brings an incredible soup, some crabcakes, and some big shrimp done some way or other. The soup was the killer this year, a very rich, spicy chicken and tasso bisque. Gallagher never holds back on the cream or butter.
Our favorite part of this is seeing people we haven't run into since our kids moved on to high school. I must also say it's an ego trip to have dozens of people I don't know step up and tell me that they like the radio show, the website, or both. Sure beats a Facebook like.
