An Evening with Southern Chefs to Benefit Share Our Strength

Last month I felt so fortunate to attend the Share Our Strength’s Benefit Dinner in Nashville at the incredible Hermitage Hotel. Seven top notch southern chefs prepared an array of five courses for “A Tasteful Pursuit” to raise money to end childhood hunger in American by the year 2015. The Chefs involved included Tandy Wilson of City House in Nashville, Hal Holden-Bache of Eastland Cafe in Nashville, John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, Ashley Christensen of Poole’s Diner in Raleigh, Tyler Brown of Capitol Grille in Nashville and Anne Quatrano of Star Provisions, Bacchanalia and Abbatoir in Atlanta. Above was our Pre-Dessert: House-Made Nasturtium Yogurt with Charentais Melon Gelee, Compressed Edisto Musk and Blackberry Honey by Anne Quatrano. Amazing, huh? Also, see the fabulous menu (below)

All of these chefs had fun creating this unbelievable menu. You can see Hal Holden-Bache, of Eastland Cafe in Nashville, cooking it up in the kitchen (below).

And, this is a great shot of Chef John Currence, of City Grocery, Snack Bar and Big Bad Breakfast in Oxford, Mississippi (below).

Tyler Brown, Chef of Capitol Grille at The Hermitage Hotel, is a Nashville icon and a man with great heart and talent. His work and farming prowess are on display at the Land Trust for Tennessee’s “Garden at Glen Leven” which is where he farms and grows produce used in his restaurant as well as to donate to charities in Nashville that incorporate fresh vegetables in their food programs. The day before the event, all of the chefs visited this garden to choose the produce used in this benefit dinner.

The Hermitage Hotel in Nashville was the ideal venue for this event. Honestly, it is also one of my favorite hotels in Nashville. The rooms, the ambiance, and it’s character are unlike any other southern hotel. Besides its fabulous restaurant, Capitol Grille, there is a fabulous bar which is one of my favorites in the city. This infamous summer cocktail, called “Watermelon Sour” is a mixture of Jack Daniels single barrel and watermelon puree from watermelons grown at Glen Leven was served before the event (below).

 Share Our Strength is such a great cause. More than 17 million children in America struggle with hunger. Share Our Strength’s campaign, “The Time is Now: No Kid Hungry”, is a national effort to end childhood hunger in America by 2015. I must thank Tyler, Janet (below) and everyone from Share Our Strength for making it possible.