SipsBitesandSites

Last night, I attended the The 2^nd annual Dish It Up event benefiting the Women Against Abuse, the operator of the only emergency shelter in Philly for abused women and their children. Not only was it a successful event, but it brought another stream of hope for those who have counted on WAA, because all of the proceeds went directly to the organization. 

 Well organized and with purposely purpled décor the room was full and lively. Purple outfits paraded the scene, danceable music moved attendees to the dance floor, purple cocktails were flowing from ice-cold cocktail shakers, and wafts of purple-colored, chef created dishes perfumed the air. 

 Upon arrival we were handed the Lavender Infused Cocktail provided by Chick’s Café and Wine Bar.  This cocktail got its purple hue from a

homemade blueberry simple syrup.  Blueberries when cooked and crushed are really purple in color rather than blue.  What a great way to start the evening.  As ‘Thriller’ pumped through the speakers (appropriate for the Halloween Holiday) we made our way around the edges of the room to see what the Chefs had found to use in their purple-driven plates.  This was afterall, a competition to see who could prepare the best tasting purple-hued dish with the winner receiving The Purple Dish Award!

 Ane Ormaechea from Café apamate went for the familiar purple beet, but presented it appetizer style.  Rounds of bright purple beets poached in OJ, ginger and sherry vinegar stacked with pear, Capricho goat cheese, micro greens, applewood smoked bacon, candied Marcona almonds and a drizzle of Hazelnut vinaigrette.  For those of you who aren’t beet lovers, this little tower of flavor would sure change your mind.

 Moon Krapugthong of MangoMoon and Chabaa Thai Bistro was all smiles at the event providing us with two tastes of Thai spices.  Japanese eggplant salad with coconut milk, and a green curry beef with purple potato.  As tasty as the curry was, the green definitely was the dominate color in this dish.

 Effie’s Restaurant represented themselves appropriately with the Greek style meat pastry  Bourekas- minced beef, spices, tomato, and dark olives (which we were told when cooked, gave the meat a purple hue- okay sounds good, but really no sight of purple here) all wrapped in filo dough and served with a mustard-ketchup sauce.  These were tasty little treats, but I preferred them without the overwhelming sauce.  Sometimes simple is better.

 On to Marathon Grill.  At the M tasting table, poached salmon was served in a charming presentation with garnishes of lemon cream, pickled cabbage and beet mustard.  I loved the brightness of the purple garnishes here, and they stood out in flavor much more so than the salmon itself.

 E’punk was in the house with Lynn Marie Rinaldi owner/chef of Paradiso plating an ultra-tender, slow cooked, porchetta nestled on a scoop of pureed purple potatoes as smooth as silk ,and topped off with pickled purple cabbage that gave the dish a brightness of acidity to balance out the stick-to-your-ribs components!  What a dish, comfort in every bite!

 Le Virtu, one of my favorite restaurants in E’punk was there representin’ too, but only in flavor- not in color.  Not a dash of purple anywhere in the dish….nadda, nothing!  What happened Catherine and Luciana???  Don’t get me wrong, your Handmade lasagna in white ragu with sausage and cheese was decadent, maybe even too decadent, but purple was the most important element here….even I was WEARING purple!

 We had two celebrity Chefs in the competition, yes two! Jennifer Carroll of 10 Arts, our well-known cheftestant on Wednesday’s Top Chef, and Katie Cavuto of Healthy Bites who was a finalist on The Next Food Network Star that aired in June.  Jennifer, had the same protein base idea as Marathon, but prepared her salmon in 10 Arts fashion- upscale.  Jen poached it in red wine (which actually gave the fish a purple hue), then served it with a beet puree, tarragon beurre noir, picked red onions and beet caviar.  This was the most creative dish of them all for sure, but the fish didn’t seem to come together well with the other components, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but salmon, when not wild, has too strong of a fishy taste for my palate. An overwhelming taste that totally overpowers anything you try to use to cover it up.

Our other TV star, Katie Cavuto delivered her promise: “healthy but decadent”.  Her vegetable sauté of local and seasonal veggies joined purple Peruvian potatoes, purple cauliflower, purple beets and baby purple pearl onions, with a few carrots to break up the color monotony.  This, the healthy part, was served beside the decadent part: melt-in-your-mouth, tender balsamic braised shortribs.  “Green Cuisine” (her signature style) never tasted so good!

 Only one contestant braved into the dessert world, Delilah Winder Chef/owner of Delilah’s Southern Cuisine.  A wild blueberry and apple cobbler with fresh whipped cream.  Sweet as pie.

 So who was the winner of The Dish It Up Award? Around 8:30 it was announced that the numbers were close, very close, but there was a clear winner!  Bet you could have guessed it…..Jennifer Carroll took home the prize….surprise, surprise.  We’re hoping that she has the same luck on Top Chef! Congrats Jen- keep up the cook work!

 As you probably know, I was not one of the judges, but I will tell you my favorite dish, just in case you couldn’t tell from my reviews. Yep, Paradiso you had me at PORK!  Overall it was a really fun event.  I think everyone had a great time and it was all for a good cause- the most important element of the evening.  And don’t worry if you missed out on all the fun this year because WAA will be Dishing It Up again next year!!

Filed under: Bites, Cocktails, Events, Sips Tagged: | Chick's Cafe Philadelphia, Dish It Up Winner, Healthy Bites, Jennifer Carroll, Le Virtu, Mango Moon, Marathon Grill, Paradiso, Philadelphia Restaurants, Purple Food, WAA Philadelphia