In his blue jeans, white shirt, blonde mustache and cowboy hat, Kenneth Braddock (along with Michael Scott) may have looked a bit out of place at the Dallas Arboretum on Thursday, June 10. After all, the night’s Food and Wine Festival’s theme was “A Gatsby Garden Soiree,” with Event Chair Alicia Voltmer, Anita Davis and Donna and James Buhr in flapper attire enjoying the layers of champagne cups. But the logo on Kenneth’s and Michael’s shirt pockets made them an important part of the sold-out VIP gathering at A Tasteful Place. It read “Rosewood Texas Raised Wagyu Beef,” and they were one of the evening’s purveyors.
When asked how he was enjoying the evening’s heat and humidity, Rosewood Ranch Manager Kenneth smiled and said that he had been in Charleston the week before, so this condition was no big deal.
Another person who had journeyed a bit of a distance was Waco’s Dr. Scotty Hermann. The reason for making the trek north was his red-haired date Holly Reed.
Nearby VIP Experience Co-Chef/Knife’s Chef John Tesar was personally serving up special small plates of seafood salad (think sturgeon caviar) at a food station. One person who admitted that he wasn’t a seafood person had a change of heart … or rather, tastebuds … upon trying John’s handiwork.
Throughout The Tasteful Place, other primo food and beverage stations like VIP Experience Co-Chef/Carte Blanche Chef Casey LaRue, Asian Mint’s Nikky Phinyawatana and Maker’s Summer Slipper’s Karla Pettigrew and Kendra Benningfield were receiving similar reviews from guests who were strolling alongside the edible greens growing in the beds.
To keep things tidy, Event Chef Chair Sharon van Meter laughed that she was too busy bussing tables to be cooking. But that would change once the main act got underway at 7, when the Arboretum grounds would become a buffet extravaganza with the following: Chef Douglas Brown of Beyond the Box, Chef Andrea Meyer of Bisous Bisous Pâtisserie, Chef Christopher Patrick of Bright Box Foods, Chef Josh Healy of Cane Rosso, Chef Casey La Rue of Carte Blanche, Chef Dan Landsberg of Ellie’s Restaurant and Lounge at Hall Arts, Chef Meaders Ozarow of Empire Baking Company with Chef Paula Lambert of Mozzarella Company, Chef Matt Balke of Encina, Chef Mike Matis of Fearing’s Restaurant, Chef Mark Wootton of Garden Café, Chef Lucy Braddock of Home Grown Market, Chef Matt McCallister of Homewood, Chef Sean Jett of Humble: Simply Good Pies, Chef Jonathon Erdeljac of Jonathon’s Diner, Chef Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman of José, Chef John Tesar of Knife Dallas, Chef Dunia Borga of La Duni Baking Studio, Chef Keith Browning of The Meat Shop, Chef Josh Boneé of Meddlesome Moth, Chef Eric Dreyer of Monarch, Chef Michael Lane of Oak’d BBQ, Chef Misti Norris of Patra and The Beast, Chef Joel Orsini of Profound Foods, Jimmy Contreras of Taco y Vino, Chef Sharon Van Meter of 3015 at Trinity Groves, Chef Luis Olivera of Trompo, Chef Brock Boyd of Two Sisters Catering and Chef Andrew Swanson of Wolfgang Puck Catering.