Our tour began with a cooking demonstration by Chef Hugh Acheson, one of Food &Wine’s Best New Chefs of 2011, current judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef Texas” and owner/chef of the popular Atlanta restaurant Empire State South. Chef Acheson showed us how to prepare a roasted carrot and beet salad with feta cheese and cumin vinaigrette while encouraging the audience to savor seasonal ingredients and local produce. We all sampled the fresh simple salad and marveled at how well the cumin complemented the carrots.
Next we were treated to an exhibition of molecular gastronomy (the application of both scientific and artistic principles in cuisine) by Chef Ben Roche, Executive Pastry Chef of Chicago’s Moto restaurant and co-host of “Future Foods” on Discovery’s Planet Green Network. Toting a huge canister of liquid nitrogen, Chef Roche prepared a batch of bacon ice cream flavored with bacon, maple syrup and sage, and beaten in a mixer with liquid nitrogen. He then re-created his signature “S’mores Bomb,” a caricature of the traditional ice cream bombe, complete with an Asian glass noodle ”wick” that he actually lit.
The grande finale featured charismatic Chef Ming Tsai (producer of the Emmy-nominated public television cooking show, “Simply Ming,” and owner of Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, MA) slicing, dicing and cajoling his way through his favorite chicken and tri-bell pepper chow mein and sweet and sour mango pork recipes; offering comic relief while proving to the crowd that Asian food is approachable for the home cook. Each attendee was also were presented with a signed copy of Ming Tsai’s Simply Ming One-Pot Meals to take home as a reminder of the amazing event!
And, as if that weren’t enough - for every attending guest, Buick will make a donation to The FEED Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the global food system, starting with ensuring nutritious school meals for all children.