event
If You Go…
What: Friends of James Beard Benefit Dinner When: March 23, 6 p.m. Where: The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, 6902 E. Greenway Pkwy., Scottsdale Tickets: Individual, $225; table of 10, $2,100 Information: www.scottsdalefest.org
FRIENDS IN DELICIOUS PLACES
An all-star lineup is set to serve at the annual Friends of James Beard Benefit Dinner
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ach year, the Valley’s brightest culinary talents and national all-stars – each of them James Beard Award-winning chefs – gather together to prepare eight sumptuous courses for an intimate crowd of foodies to raise funds for the Scottsdale League for the Arts during the Friends of James Beard Benefit Dinner. The event, which also features a reception and cocktail hour with its own host of high-end fare, is among the hottest culinary tickets of the year. And, given this year’s list of who’s who that will be serving, it’s no wonder why. Chefs Chris Masco and Derek Biazo of The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa are slated to start the evening’s
BY ALISON BAILIN BATZ
events, playing as hosts and overseeing the reception, where they will feature goat cheese ravioli with ingredients from an Arizona farm as well as specialties from Sphinx Date Ranch to further support local. Pairings will include Arizona prime beef tenderloin, caviar and uni (aka sea urchin) panna cotta, among other sweet and savory small bites, to whet guests’ palates before dinner. Guests will then be placed in the trusted hands of James Beard Award winner (and Emmy Award winner) Ming Tsai for some of his famous “East-meetsWest” fare, followed by Michael Ginor, co-founder of Hudson Valley Foie Gras and New York State Foie Gras, the most comprehensive foie gras producer in the SO SCOTTSDALE! |
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world, for a foie gras tasting for the ages. Brad Kilgore, who was just named a 2016 Best New Chef honoree by Food & Wine magazine, will then join in on the fun along with John Tesar, who will be fresh off competing in the most recent season of Top Chef. Guests can expect a luxurious play on surf and turf from these courses, followed by dessert delivered by Nancy Silverton, who took home the James Beard equivalent of an Oscar back in 2014 when she was named the organization’s overall most outstanding chef of the year. Each course – including the reception– will be paired with wines from Chateau St. Michelle, Washington state’s oldest and most acclaimed winery.