Star Chefs at Spagio - Part One

Last night I got to pretend I was a member of the legit press - I donned a press badge and a pretty skirt, forced Husband into a suit and tie, and headed off to the Star Chefs event at Spagio & Spagio Cellars.  Every other press person there (curious, we were all females) had a much nicer camera than I did, but I'm willing to bet my pictures are more interesting (although some of the lighting is a little wacky owing to many neon lights).  Why?  They all take pictures of pretty people to put in their "society" pages (tried not to choke as I wrote that); toss the pretty people, I say, let's focus on the food!

The event, which benefits Childen's Hospital & Hospice care (Children's Hospice Care might be the saddest phrase ever), takes place throughout Spagio & Spagio Cellars, even in the kitchen - which is great for a food photographer, because the lighting is fabulous.  And of course, a waitress like me always feels more comfortable standing in the kitchen flirting with line cooks than out in the dining room with the pretty people.

Chefs at the event included Columbus favorites Hartmut Handke from Handke's, Spencer Budros & John from Pistachia Vera, of course Hubert Seifert from Spagio.

But what are we waiting for?  Let's get on with the food.  First up, from Chef William Koval of the Lakewood Country Club in Dallas, an Akaushi Beef Carpaccio with a mixed veggie and ricotta salata salad.  (Akaushi Beef, by the way, is a very well-marbled Japanese beef; it has significantly less cholesterol than many other varieties of red meat, and can be purchased locally at Tensuke Japanese Grocery):

Next up, suckling pig!!! One nice thing about events like this is I can taste food from places like Blackbird, without even going to Chicago.  This dish had me thinking of my old Chef, "Chef Chef," who could think of a million things to do with pork.  Once we even got in a suckling pig and he boned the whole thing, rolled it up and roasted it.  It was yummy.  At any rate, this dish was the brainchild of Chef Paul Kahan of Blackbird and Avec.  Roasted suckling pig with homemade cracklins, pickled mustard seed and sweet potato mustard.  YUM.  Baby piggies are tasty:

And here are the chefs plating:

One of my favorite Columbus chefs whose food I never get to eat now that he's a big corporate chef at CMR is Brian Hinshaw.  He had some really great cola-braised short ribs with horseradish sauce and potatoes.  The texture was flawless:

There must have been 6-8 stations set up in the kitchen, which was really cool if for no other reason than to see fancily-clad woman standing around prep tables under florescent lights, eating quail with their fingers.  Usually I only get to see my coworkers in this situation, and it's fun to see guests doing it.  And, here is the aforementioned quail - grilled and topped with pomegranate seeds, mandarin segments, honey and chopped pistachios, from Chef Dean Zanella of 312 Chicago:

and here he is, plating:

I was standing around with winemaker (and Napa host) extraordinaire Drew and wine rep Steve when I noticed this super cool wine packaging.  Now, I am such a girl when it comes to packaging that I can never be around when wine reps bring wine to Husband.  If I had anything to do with it, the wine list would be full of cute labels.  Not only did the wine have a great label (it's called "Plungerhead," Husband is working on retail locations), it also had this super cool closure, the Zork.  Here's Steve, demonstrating in my first ever video!

It's funny, at an event like this - Husband and I are so used to being the ones pouring the wine, smiling at guests and clearing plates that it is really weird to be a guest.  Husband kept trying to clear his plates.  I kept standing aside to let old men pass me, who just laughed and let me through.  Also it's hard to not feel empathy for the servers, chefs, line cooks, and dishwashers - events like this take a ton of work and make for a really, really long day.  Just something to think about the next time you're nibbling at a gala.

The rest is coming soon!

Comments

[elizabeth]

hey there! My husband and I attended a German wine and cheese-tasting event at Hills Market Thursday. In my post-tasting stupor, I was trying to talk my husband into buying the Plungerhead wine, but he balked because he considered it too "gimmicky." Now I know. thanks!

[Heather Hewitt]

Lisa-

Fantastic photos (as usual) and great commentary. Should any of your readers want info prior to next year's event - spagio.restaurant@gmail.com
Many thanks for covering the event!

[Lindi]

What?! Dean Zanella and Paul Kahan were in town and I wasn't informed?? Former Chicagoan here. I've dined at their restaurants a few times and I love their food. Looks like it was a great time. How do I get on the mailing list for next year?

[JoeV]

I have to say your plates always look a lot more appetizing!

[Rachel]

I saw a wine with a Zork at Whole Foods today. It wasn't Plungerhead, though. I stopped myself from buying any and I can't recall the name.

BTW - don't you mean NATIONWIDE Children's Hospital? sigh corporate branding sigh