Event
The Appalachian Pantry, a Wine Dinner Fundraiser for Terra Madre
This is the first of several fundraising events dedicated to sending a member of Knoxville's farming community to the Slow Food Terra Madre conference in Italy. In keeping with the Slow Food ideal of good, clean and fair food, Chef Matt Gallaher will prepare this dinner with ingredients nearly exclusively sourced from the surrounding counties. Even in the dead of winter, while the garden slumbers, the Appalachian Pantry allows us to eat locally. And eat well at that! The Meal will feature some of the area's most celebrated farms and producers. Allan Benton's amazing Tennessee Bacon, Laurel Creek Farm Pastured Meats and Cruze Farm Buttermilk will be paired with Southern wines and Shady Grove Mead.
The Menu:
Cruze Farm Buttermilk and Benton's Bacon Pralines
Deviled Laurel Creek Farm Hen Eggs with Tennessee Chow Chow
Beaten Biscuits with Benton's Country Ham and Muddy Pond Sorghum Butter
Shady Grove Sparkling Mead
Slow Roasted Laurel Creek Farm Pork Belly
Salad of 4K Farm Beets, Carrots and Turnips
Muddy Pond Sorghum Vinaigrette
BlueSlip White Steuben
Braised Laurel Creek Farm Beef Shortrib
Benton's Bacon Collard Greens
Cruze Farm Buttermilk Grits
Braised Vegetable Jus
Arrington Vineyard Red Fox Red
Toasted Laurel Creek Farm Egg Pound Cake
Lavender Honey Buttercream
Shady Grove Mead Spiked Peach Preserves
Shady Grove Blackberry Mead
About the chef:
Matt grew up in a restaurant family in East Knox County and began working for his mother's catering company and restaurant at the age of nine. Cooking wasn't realized as a career, however, until he worked with Chef Holly Hambright at Lord Lindsey Catering. After completing his coursework in Chemical Engineering at UT in 2001, Matt decided to forego his academic degree and accepted a Sous Chef position under Holly.
It was over the next 2 years that Matt developed an interest and appreciation fine dining and in 2003 he accepted a line cook position with Chef John Fleer at Blackberry Farm to further this interest. The property garnered worldwide acclaim during his tenure and earned the Relais Gourmand distinction in 2005 and in 2006 Travel + Leisure Magazine named Blackberry #1 Hotel for Service and #2 Hotel for Cuisine in the World. Matt was inspired by the bounty of the Blackberry Farm garden and developed a deep appreciation for the farmers and culinary artisans in East Tennessee and was promoted to Sous Chef in 2006.
A new opportunity presented itself a year later and Matt took a touring chef position with Dega Catering. During his time with Dega, Matt has traversed the United States and Canada several times cooking for the Eagles, Wilco, Neil Young, Tim McGraw and Linkin Park, among others. Matt finished 2009 touring with Keith Urban, Taylor Swift and Sugarland and is donating his down time to charitable dinners for the American Cancer Society and Slow Food Knoxville.
About the conference delegate:
Ben Epperson studied Literary and Linguistic Theory (English) at the University of TN, Knoxville. In 2005 he moved with his partner, Elly, to the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic Ben taught English and published a series of English grammar and usage learning tools for Anglictina.com.
Ben and Elly moved back to the States in 2007 to have their first child, Violet, at Elly's parent's farm in Fayetteville, TN. A new family, and a bit of experience in a foreign culture sparked a renewed dedication to socially and environmentally responsible living here at home. A job working on CreekBed Farm, an organic farm and arboretum, launched an interest in sustainable agriculture and Ben began seriously considering community gardening as a solution to America's culture crisis.
Ben and family moved back to Knoxville two years ago with the vague intention of starting a community garden in the Fort Sanders area. However, when Ben stumbled onto the grounds of Beardsley Community Farm he was electrified by the possibilities and opportunities he found at the farm and has been unable to leave ever since. "We'd like to see a small portion of Knoxville growing its own food again. We're here to build the buzz for sustainable urban agriculture, and it's working."
Beardsley Farm has been through a radical transformation in the past two years. Ben and a countless number of volunteers are working towards a kind of urban ag extension agency: where people can come to learn, to eat and to take part in rebuilding Knoxville's local culture from the ground up.
http://beardsleyfarm.org/
For more information about Terra Madre visit:
www.terramadre.info
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LocationIronwood Studios
119 Jennings Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37917
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 21 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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Contact
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