It’s sorta scary when North Texas’ top foodies and groupies gather. They often commiserate with tales of suffering poor service and lackluster food like Simon Cowell does with an off-key contestant.
But they got together Wednesday, June 18, at one of the area’s fav chef’s newest spots — Stephan Pyles’ San Salvaje on Ross Avenue.
The reason? The announcement that the legendary James Beard Foundation’s “Taste America: Local Flavor from Coast to Coast” would be adding Dallas to its heady list of less than a dozen participating cities (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.)
Despite fighting go-to-home traffic and an overwhelmed solo valet parker, the crowd came non-stop. The only thing more prevalent than cheek bussing was the “I think I’ll try this one” as tasties were served up left and right on trays.
Unfortunately, a male photographer backed into an itty-bitty server with a tray of wine glasses. Results? Broken glass on the floor, red and white wine mixing it up and industry pros smiling in sympathy. . . after all, they had all had those smash ups.
But besides the splatter on the floor, the crowd in the place included Steve Kemble, who was masterminding KVIL’s morning show all week; WFAA’s Ron Corning, who with arms of steel had managed to do his A.M. newscast, hustle over to Steve’s show and still look so-fine for the Beard event. Course, he won’t be missing Beard’s September gourmet event. He’s the emcee. . . Speaking of WFAA, too-good-looking Shane Allen was on hand. He almost makes you want to be trapped in a jam, so he’ll notice you. . . And talking about noticing, too-cute Christopher Wright was causing a major whiplash. He had cut off his well-known ponytail and claimed he didn’t know what to do with the free time.
But don’t go thinking it was a guys-only gathering. Parigi’s First Lady Janice Provost was holding her own in her signature pink chef’s jacket. But Janice was there for a reason.
As Stephan called the group together, it was revealed that, “Yes!” the James Beard Foundation had added Dallas to its “Taste America” promoting excellence in cuisine to raise money for the James Beard Foundation and a local non-profit. In Dallas, that non-profit will be Café Momentum. Ah, that explained Chad Houser’s presence. Why he was even all gussied up in coat and tie!
To accomplish the taste-bud extravaganza, local chefs take part in the providing the “bites and libations” for the reception on Friday, September 26, at the Hilton Anatole. The Dallas chefs will include Tim Byres of Smoke, Omar Flores of Cassa Rubia, Matt McCallister of FT33, Janice, Teiichi Sakurai of Tei-An and David Uygur of Lucia.
Following the reception, an “exceptional dinner prepared by Patrick O’Connell of Inn at Little Washington and Stephan Pyles” will be held.
The following day, “a series of free, in-store consumer events will take place at Sur La Table” including cooking demos by Patrick, book signings, tastings from local producers and artisans and more.
Seating for the dinner will be limited, so start the diet and get your tickets now!