Sunday, March 18, 2012.
Chef Soiree #28.
Whenever I think of Chef Soiree--the longest-running charitable nibblefest on the North Shore--I think about the unpredictability of March weather. Two years ago, a bizarre cold front came through with windy temperatures in the low forties. Everybody was shivering. Another year, a tremendous tropical-style thunderstorm burst in the afternoon. It was over by the time the Soiree began, but left Bogue Falaya Park more than a little muddy.
Maybe this year's iteration will make us forget all that. It was a perfect day, with sunny skies at the beginning and starry ones (including that great show Venus and Jupiter are putting on right now) at the end. Temperatures in the seventies, a nice little breeze.
Nobody else was taking credit for the weather, so I claimed it.Mary Ann and I were the Honorary Chairs for this year's Soiree. She was a little uneasy about the role. "I don't like calling attention to myself," she said, referring to the chef's jackets we were given to wear during our tenure. She likes the Soiree itself, though, and she really liked that we were entitled to a reserved parking space inside the gate.
We started the way we always do: with Pat Gallagher's consistently superb eats. A shrimp and mirliton casserole and a rich chicken and tasso soup were right up to his standards. He's been a part of the Soiree since it began.
The next three hours were spent discovering that yes, here was yet another tent whose food we had not yet tried. The Acme was shucking oysters. Shuck 'n' Jive was grilling them. New Orleans Food and Spirits said it was serving shrimp Creole (yuck), but in fact their dish was shrimp etouffee--no tomato in the sauce. Yum!
Carmelo Chirico was making truffled mushroom ravioli in a cream sauce. Pete Kusiw from Juniper was searing fresh tuna. A new place called Baba Ghannoush had Greek jambalaya. Say what? Very good, was what. Lakeview Regional Medical Centers food operatives were sending people away with beautiful sea scallops with greens. They looked great, but the line was always too long, and people who wanted to talk with me kept pulling me out of it. Well, that's what I'm here for.
Zea? Grilled ribs with Thai barbecue sauce. Nur's Kitchen? Hummus. Nonna Randazzo's? Cloudlike of macaroon cookies. Nuvolari's? wild greens salad. On and on we went. I could have eaten twice as much as I did if I had the digestive capacity.
Ditto on the drinks. The Chef Soiree always has a vast oversupply of wine and cocktails. I was surprised to see Bulleit, a highly-respected Bourbon whiskey, being poured freely. Lots of other premium juice could be had.
The chef's jacket was helping me. I think a lot of people who would otherwise step up and start talking endlessly with me were either not doing more than waving or moving on quickly. I think they though I had something else to do. Some of the restaurant folks, seeing me walking around eating, drinking, and talking, may have thought I was goofing off. I was, but that was my job, according to the organizers. Who are raising money for the Youth Service Bureau, which goes a long way toward keeping young people with various problems from turning into adults with even worse ones.
I bought a few raffle tickets for $10,000 in cold, hard cash. Rich Mauti picked the winner: Tom (!!!). . . somebody. Oh, well. I would have to give half of the prize back to the Youth Services Bureau, to keep things from looking fishy.
Hundreds of people were there. A big, happy success all around.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
