Atlanta Les Dames d’Escoffier Hosts Dinner Celebrating Summer and Giving to Raise Scholarship Funds Aug. 24

Chefs need greens. And not just for salads and sides. They need scholarship monies to cover the costs of culinary education and honing skills. Atlanta’s own chapter members of Les Dames d’Escoffier International (LDEI) work tirelessly in and out of the kitchen planning culinary education events and unique fundraisers to assist student chefs in reaching their goals. On Thursday, Aug. 24, The Cook’s Warehouse, Wüsthof USA and the Atlanta Chapter of LDEI are hosting a grand opening VIP cooking demonstration and dinner party at the newest location of The Cook’s Warehouse in Chamblee’s Peachtree Station. Wüsthof USA executive chef Mike Garaghty and Dame Gloria Smiley lead the 6:30-9 p.m. fundraising event. All proceeds benefit the LDEI Culinary Futures Scholarship that goes out to one female high school senior pursuing a degree in culinary arts, hospitality or a related field. Alliyah White-Amos, the 2017 Culinary Futures Scholarship recipient, will be on hand and working with chef Garaghty to help prepare this amazing meal. The evening’s delicacies include hickory-smoked picanha crostini with chimichurri aioli; chilled avocado soup with seared ancho lobster and crema; grilled Georgia peach and burrata on local baby greens with balsamic; chef Gloria Smiley’s butternut squash ravioli; espresso-rubbed lamb chops with minted sour cherry glaze and sweet corn succotash; and a dessert of chocolate decadence with raspberry coulis. $119 per person; reserve your seat here.

Umi Executive Chef Fuyuhiko Ito Shows Off Knife Skills during Culinary Week at The Art Institute of Atlanta Aug. 23

Culinary students at The Art Institute of Atlanta will witness cutting-edge finesse when Fuyuhiko Ito, executive chef of Umi in Buckhead, leads a knife skills demonstration on Wednesday, Aug. 23 at 11 a.m. Ito unpacks his blades as part of The Art Institute of Atlanta’s Culinary Week sessions showcasing industry chefs and providing an extra learning opportunity for students. The un-ticketed event, scheduled for room 100 at the Sandy Springs campus, is open to the public with limited seating available. For more information, contact Carole Carr at cccarr@edmc.edu. 

New England Country Soup Hosts a Southern Souper Battle

On Saturday, March 24, Southern soup lovers will compete for the chance to win the New England Country Soup Challenge. With the all-natural New England Country Soups available on Publix shelves, the Vermont-based creator of healthy, "tastes as good as homemade" soups has extended its Soup Challenge contest to the Southeast. The five regional finalists were chosen based on their original and family soup recipes, which they submitted online. This Saturday local souper-stars Jenny Levison of Souper Jenny and Chef Jim Gallivan of The Art Institute of Atlanta will help judge the 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. stockpot showdown at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Atlanta. The finalist who comes closest to matching the taste and nutrition of New England Country Soup offerings will win a foodie weekend getaway at The Hob Knob Eco Boutique Hotel on Martha's Vineyard. You do not want to miss out on this Southern Soup Showdown. This event is free and the aroma is certainly tempting. All you have to do is email info@soupchallenge.com to receive a free ticket that will hold your seat.

No Way Mole!

This Wednesday, I got to attend the McDonald’s Perfect Pairing - an event where six culinary students from the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Atlanta competed for a scholarship—Top Chef style. Each student paired an item off of McDonald’s menu with one of their new McCafe drinks. The McCafe items feature drinks such as an iced mocha, latte and cappuccino. Each pairing was then presented to a panel of judges who tasted and scored each student’s entry.

Needless to say I was skeptical from the beginning. To be honest--I just can’t imagine sitting down to eat lunch and thinking that a latte would best complement my chicken nuggets. Admittedly, I am a coffee snob and addict--yet some things just don’t work well with coffee. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much innovation and thought went into some of the pairings that the culinary students presented.

Some of the students paired what I found to be more common sense items together. For example, an iced caramel latte with an apple walnut salad, or a bacon, egg and cheese with hot chocolate. Neither of these seemed too far out of the realm of a normal meal. One student, Phillip McCrillis, branched out and truly impressed me... it also seemed to be the one meal the judges continued to nibble at while scoring and listening to Phillip talk.

Phillip’s pairing, No Way Mole, was a winner, not only in my book but also for the judges who selected Phillip as the winner. He paired a Southwestern chicken sandwich (Southwest BBQ sauce on the side), baked apple pie with vanilla ice-cream adorned with a crushed sugar cone on top, with an iced mocha. He came upon the flavor as he was experimenting with different menu items and put all of these items in his mouth at the same time. With all the items together he exclaimed “No way mole!" Mole is a popular Mexican sauce tinged with a chocolate flavor that Phillip swears you can recreate with these common McDonald’s items.


Congratulations Phillip on your scholarship! For all of you who didn’t see Phillip’s pairing, head on over to McDonald's and experiment with your own pairings of the new McCafe--the options are endless.