3 Course Feast

I was feeling very philanthropic last week. I attended three charity events, yes three all in one week. All were excellent! The first one was the United Cerebral Palsy's 3 Course Feast at the Holiday Inn on Memphis's campus. Loren and Mike met us there, and Katie was there to support Michael. Over thirty local restaurants were represented by their head chef's and they signature dish. Each restaurant either did a appetizer, entree or dessert. UCP also had a vodka representative as well as several beer distributors. I have never seen full beers to sample ever given out, but they did this night. I even tried a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and liked it. I never drink beer, bc I just don't like the taste, but I really like this one!! But my favorite drink, a must have at a casual dinner, was the Pomegranate Martini. Just pour straight from the bottle and its wonderful. Now let's talk food. I would have to say, and yes I am biased, the best entree was from Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen. They did a ravioli with a lamb ragout. It wasn't crazy, I had it before, but that what made it the best, just familiar goodness.  A lot of the chef's seemed to be competing with others and making all kinds of crazy combinations of things and trying to make it blend. John Bragg of Circa hosted the event and did a Pork Tenderloin stuffed with prunes and walnuts that was alright. Erling Jensen did a Shrimp with White Beans, I don't like beans so I ate on the shrimp. Karen Carrier of Mollie Fontaine's/Beauty Shop etc did a Lemongrass Mouse Steak Sandwich, it was good, but some strange flavors. Nick Scott of BlueFin did a Tuna Sashimi with Jalapenos that Tony loved. Bobby Baker of Napa Cafe did a short rib slider with red cabbage and jicama slaw, now I hate slaw, but the pork was very good. Clint Boutwell of Orleans on Front did a Crawfish Ettouffee,, which again I don't like, but he handed it to me himself and I tried to tell him I didn't like it, but had to eat it anyway, and it was alright, just too spicy. Rick Farmer of Jarrett's did a Saffron and Seafood Risotto which was nice. Giacomo Ciabattini of Cafe' Toscano did a stuffed pork tenderloin with Italian sausage which was very very good. David Johnson of McEwen's did a BBQ Duck Confit Slider which I enjoyed, but something strange was on it. Chris Windor of Grill 83 did a Moroccan Lamb which was not my favorite and I love Lamb. Those were all the entrees. I didn't even mention the Appetizers or Desserts, but I will say the New Zealand Lamb Lollipops from the Tennessean where divine! I am very picky, as I have said before, so it was tough to find all these mixed up flavors delicious to my pallet. I tried a lot of things that I normally wouldn't, but hey we did pay $65 each to attend this event, so I had to get my dinner's worth.  I sure got my worth of those Pom Martini's. Loren and I were bidding on several items in the silent auction. I've become pretty good at getting some good items at these. She got a one night hotel stay in FL and I got a Gatlinburg Tram Tour for 4 :)