This evening I had the opportunity to attend the annual Launch Party + Summer Benefit for the Charleston Food + Wine Festival. The launch party was supposed to offer a “taste of the festival” and had several stations with local chefs offering samples that represented the Festival’s signature events. Proceeds went to the MUSC Children’s Hospital and tickets were only $10.
As I had known for a while, but hadn’t been able to divulge, they’ve managed to lure Food Network star and Iron Chef Bobby Flay to next year’s Festival. He’ll cook at a charity luncheon with some of the other chefs from his restaurants and also give a demonstration on how to create gourmet burgers. That was the major announcement, but I’m sure you all are equally interested to hear about the food.
My personal favorite dish was offered by chef Craig Deihl of Cypress. It was his rendition of a BLT that featured grape tomatoes, shrimp, and a lamb bacon mayonnaise on a crisp crostini. Other top offerings included shrimp and grits served with a corn fritter topped with sweet tomato jam (Locklear’s) and barbecued beef and pulled pork (care of Blackjack Barbecue/Food for the Southern Soul).
Really the only thing that didn’t work for me was Caviar & Bananas signature dish of, guess what, caviar on a banana chip. The chip just tasted stale and overpowered any flavor the caviar had.
The desserts were great too. There were grand marnier truffles, mango and passion fruit mousse cups, brownies, and a wonderful chocolate mousse filled chocolate ball on a stick from Cypress’s pastry chef M. Kelly Wilson.
If you’re a fan of the Charleston culinary scene there were all kinds of names you would recognize in attendance including Brett McKee of Oak Steakhouse, Bob Waggoner and Mickey Bakst of Charleston Grill, and Mike Lata of FIG.
It was a great event and I think I gave myself a cavity sampling all of the sweets. Now excuse me while I go brush my teeth ten times in a row.
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I had a lot of fun at this event too! My personal favorites were the BLT crostini and the mango/passionfruit desserts. Like I said, I could have taken boxes of all that home and lived off of it for the rest of the week haha.