Melissa Richards wrote:This Thursday, September 25th; 5:30 - 7:30 at the Galt House. Tickets are a bargain at $25. (Full disclosure, I have helped on the planning committee). 25 local restaurants and beverage purveyors, as well as cooking and mixology demonstrations featuring 3 local chefs and a herradura and El Jimador Tequila mixologist creating unique offerings on stage, along with music and silent auction deals on dining, products and travel packages.
As a nod to continuing innovation -- TOI will be a Zero Taste Waste: All implements, food and drinkware will be biodegradable and composted, so those who come will be cool and green.
http://www.tasteofinnovation.com/I know our own forumites Stephen D and Dallas M will be there, along with a couple others. I'm personally donating an Oregon Pinot Basket to the silent auction. I'm planning to go and will be happy to coordinate a group, should there be enough interest.
Sweet.. I didn't know El Jimador was bringing in thier mixologist! Looks like I'll have someone to shoot the sh!t with, hehe.
You know I like to share our efforts with everybody here, warts and all. So here's where we are at on the project:
Our contribution is entitled 'Tale of Two Citrus' and I think it works on a bunch of different levels. It will be an Orange/ Rosemary Panna-Cotta topped with Two Diverging
'Extreme' Pop-Rocks and Two Diverging Selections of Margarita-Injected Kumquats/ Red Seedless Grapes. The guest will pick up the fruit and eat it whole- the margarita will literally explode in one's mouth. Then they will enjoy the panna-cotta's smooth and creamy juxtaposition, punctuated by the textural and sonic influence of the pop-rocks (which were selected because this particular type is more explosive and sour than their predecessors!)
Chef will work the booth early on and then I will come and tag him out later. As fortune would have it, we accidentally double-booked this evening. Months ago, we were approached for a 100+ person special event for US Bank. Leo, our Sous (and sushi god) is to work a demonstration station in the dining room. I am to work a similar demonstration station featuring two event-specific cocktails. Chef Dallas is running the actual dinner. With his sous engaged as such, he has to be in-house for execution. So the plan is to have me leave just after aperitifs and tag chef into the restaurant... like a professional wrestling team! LMAO! For me,that IS the tale of the two citrus, lol!
This being the Idea Festival, we'll have some ideas that we will sharing with everybody (who cares to listen):
A. The fusion of kitchen and bar- two elements that traditionally never get along can produce exceptional results when they begin collaborating.
B. Brand Outreach- When a restaurant sees their distributors as partners, and begins proactively working with them, great things happen.
C. Inspiration proudly manifested from others- The entirety of our dish has inspiration from Bourdain's work and life, good or bad. Louisville's dining scene is great because we all get along and our individual ideas are happily accepted and developed further by our neighbors, who in-turn- share their ideas with (and inspire) us. 'United We Stand, Divided We Fall' is not only the state motto, it's the spirit by which our community thrives, I think.
D. The Perfect-Circle Syndrome- The corporate world has conditioned us to value consistency, at all cost. I think this is not only cardinal sin, it is virtually impossible. No two bartenders make the exact same drink, even when they use jiggers and replicate exact proportions. When you think about it, no two fish will ever taste
exactly alike, even if they come from the same waters. We are going to express these nuances by lightly adjusting ingredient variance. There will be two types of pop rocks, El Jimador Reposado and Anejo will be used in varying proportions and we will be varying Classic Cointreau and Cointreau Noir (Brandied, good lord this stuff is good!) The point is to excite people by creating dishes with enough conscious and communicated flavor nuance variance to spark conversations. 'Mine seemed to be heavy on the orange, what about yours?' 'I could really taste the aged qualities of a fine anejo.' The funny thing about this concept to me is that, if we succeed, the average person who enjoys consistency most likely won't detect the nuance variance, as they won't be trying to analyze the flavor to that degree of exactitude. To them, it will be 'margarita.' As you can tell, this is a very exciting idea to us and we will definitely enjoy testing it out on everybody...
We are excited to be a part of the Taste of Innovation and look forward to seeing everyone there. I would like to finish with a nod to Sandy Nixon, Tonya York Dees and Angela Sherman for their efforts to organize an exceptional event that I think will represent our community to the world- who we are now, not who we were in the days of old (an excellent tradition, don't get me wrong, yet...)
