Foodie Focused Weekend Brings $150K to DC-Charities

As Washington played host to a foodie-all-star weekend with Saturday Night Sips and Sunday Night Suppers, DC-based charities Martha’s Table and DC Central Kitchen raised almost $150,000 from the sold out events.

Co-hosted by Alice Waters, Joan Nathan and Jose Andres, Saturday Night Sips featured custom cocktails, Italian wines and tastes from some of DC’s hottest chefs.  Sunday Night Suppers brought chefs from around the world to 14 area homes where guests – from Sonia Sotomayor, Wolf Blitzer and Bob Woodward – enjoyed specially crafted menus based on locally sourced and sustainable ingredients.

Chefs and tastes from Saturday’s event included:

• Antonio Burrell of Masa 14 who prepared bay scallop ceviche with shiso, uni, quail egg, paddlefish roe and truffle;
• Will Artley of Evening Star Cafe who prepared crispy pork belly with sun choke duo and stewed mushrooms;
• Graham Bartlett of Zengo, who prepared a raw fluke Tiradito served sashimi style with hibiscus macerated orange, cucumber, shiso leaf and Serrano chile;
• Garret Fleming of Eatonville, who prepared a bourbon-braised veal cheek BBQ with a pickled local turnip and celery root slaw on a black pepper buttermilk biscuit;
• Shannon Overmiller from the Majestic Café who prepared a spiced roulade of Spanish pork loin stuffed with homemade fennel sausage, chestnut puree, braised cabbage and apples, café ole sauce;
• David Varley of Bourbon Steak who prepared Toby Bay Island oysters with spicy kim chi and citrus soju;
• K.N. Vinod of Indique who prepared Bhelpuri, a popular Indian street snack made of puffed rice, crispy gram flour noodles, chopped shallots, mixed with cilantro and tamarind chutneys; and
• Rick Field of Rick’s Picks (New York, NY) who prepared a variety of pickled snacks. 

Mixologists at Saturday’s event included:

• Dan Searing from Room 11
• Gina Chersevani from PS7’s
• Owen Thompson from Café Atlantico
• Jeff Feile for Palena

(For a full list of the mixologists’ libations, visit http://www.socialepicurean.com/2011/01/dc-mixologists-shaking-things-up-for-saturday-nights-sips)

Chefs from Sunday Suppers included:

• Alice Waters, Chez Panisse – Berkeley, CA
• Victor Albisu, BLT Steak
• Cathal Armstrong, Restaurant Eve
• Eve Aronoff, EVE – Ann Arbor, MI
• Elisabeth Bourgeois, La Mas Tourteron – Gorde, France
• Jeff Buben, Vidalia
• Bertand Chemel, 2941
• Ariane Daguin, D’Artagnan – New York, NY
• Roberto Donna, Galileo III Ristorante Italiano
• Scott Drewno, Wolfgang Puck’s The Source
• Ruben Garcia, mini bar by jose andres
• Todd Gray, Equinox
• Julian Medina, Toloache – New York, NY
• Brian McBride, Blue Duck Tavern
• Kaz Okochi, Masa 14 & Kaz Sushi Bistro
• Vickie Reh, Buck’s Fishing and Camping
• Barton Seaver, chef/author of For Cod and Country
• Alon Shaya, Domenica – New Orleans, LA
• Gina Stanley, Artcliff Diner – Vineyard Haven, MA
• Nicholas Stefanelli, Bibiana
• Fabio Trabocchi, Fiola Ristorante
• Robert Weland, Poste
• Todd Woods and Josh Schwartz, Restaurant Nora

Each menu was tailored for guests and incorporated locally sourced, sustainable ingredients.  Below is one of the 14 menus, this one created by Ariane Daguin and Chef Bertrand Chemel (local rising star at 2941):

A SELECTION OF CANAPES:
Goat cheese gougère, torrone
Nantucket bay scallop ceviche, spicy coconut
Gascon Sushi foie gras
Smoked duck breast and pear
***
NEW ZEALAND ABALONE TATAKI
Beurre d’Echire, apple cider vinegar, Granny Smith apple
***
HAND ROLLED GARGANELLE
Black truffle, puits d’Astier cheese
***
FOIE GRAS DUO
En terrine, quince confit, nasturtium leave
Pan seared, pomegranate jus, crispy duck, condense milk brioche
***
ATLANTIC TURBOT
parsnip purée, kale, crispy berkshire pork belly
***
WILD SCOTTISH PARTRIDGE
Sun choke, black trumpet mushroom, watermelon radish
***
CHOCOLATE PASSION
Caraibe chocolate mousse, coconut biscuit, mango-banana sorbet

Thank you to all participants who helped make this event successful.  We couldn’t have done it without the generous donation from the follwoing:

Time from the planning commitee

The doanted food, wine and alcohol from the purveyors

The homes of the hosts

To the vision of the chefs