Some people were surprised to see the governor at the Governor’s Culinary Challenge on Monday. He had a bigger challenge. It was the first full day of search and rescue and cleanup after a tornado devastated a ribbon of Faulkner County the evening before.
The governor spent the day touring the site, managing relief and speaking to CNN and other national media.
It was all the talk of the fundraiser for the Thea Foundation in and around the Capital Hotel mezzanine.
All of the money raised benefits Thea scholarships, which has disbursed about $2 million to college-bound Arkansas high school seniors in the categories of visual arts, creative writing, poetry slam, performance arts and fashion design.
Eight chefs plied sample-size food offerings such as Hunter’s rice and gravy (Lee Richardson) and Moroccan chicken rolls with lemon-yogurt sauce (Dan Capello). Several chefs went with local ingredients;
Patrick Herron at the Governor’s Mansion made a grit cake from War Eagle Mill cornmeal.
“Lee’s dad shot the deer that went into this venison gravy,” Richardson’s assistant, Cheryl Delong, said. “It doesn’t get much more local than that.”
The most popular station may have been Joel Antunes’ (Ashley’s). He served up asparagus gazpacho with grissini (breadsticks), yellowfin tuna tartare, and raspberry no-bake cheesecake. At the end of an hour, there were still some breadsticks.
“Well, you can always come into Ashley’s,” Antunes’ assistant told a disappointed ticketholder.
Always? After brunch today, the restaurant is closed for a renovation expected to take several months.
High Profile, Pages 48 on 05/04/2014