by Ester Harrison
Savor Dallas is in full swing. This wine and food festival is an annual event that highlights wine, regional cuisine, and area restaurants. Savor Dallas also does a great job of scheduling events around the Dallas attractions such as the Arts District Wine Stroll, the Grand and Reserve Tastings in Fair Park, and Savor the Arboretum. Savor Dallas is an epicurean feast and highly recommended if you like to go to events just to taste many different types of wine and food. I mean, who doesn’t? But, as with most event like this, the tickets do come at a pretty hefty price depending on the event. Usually, the more varieties, the higher the price of the event.
As fun as tastings are, I wanted to try something different this year. I was delighted to see that Savor Dallas added a new event to their usual offerings. The Toast of the Town is a series of lectures that focuses on several contemporary food-inspired topics, specifically those doing with Texas cuisine.
Last night I attended the Toast of the Town lecture on Thinking and Eating Seasonally in Dallas at Lark on the Park restaurant, hosted by Co-Chefs Melody Bishop and Dennis Kelley. This event was an opportunity for Dallas to talk about farm-to-table cuisine in an intimate setting. Set in the upbeat private room at LARK on the Park, we mingled for a bit while the Chefs described the appetizers set before us. The small group feasted on English Pea Toast, Grilled Asparagus with Jamón Serrano, Chilled Snap Pea Soup, Yellowfin Tuna Carpaccio, and a Blood Orange Panna Cotta. These bites were as colorful as they were delicious. My favorite dish of the night was the Yellowfin Tuna Carpaccio which sat on a mound of sticky rice and was topped with salted Texas Grapefruit. It was out of control!
The culinary creations were paired with two selected drinks, a Reginato Sparkling Torrontes and a tequila based cocktail, aptly named Hangin’ in the Garden. Our hosts discussed their backgrounds and how they came to Dallas.
They also highlighted the reasons and process for selecting seasonal produce to create their menus. Melody and Dennis went into great detail about the differences between organic and cage-free, a discussion that is a hot topic right now. Not only was the entire event informative, but it was fun and casual. The Chefs were very approachable and genuinely interested in sharing their knowledge. With their history in California they had plenty of tips and tricks for the group. While I’ve dined at their restaurant several times, hearing about their upcoming menu left me craving some of their delicious food. I am sure that a visit and blog post on LARK on the Park is in my future!
If you happen to be interested in the Toast of the Town series, other events include Food From the Fire! A Wood-Fire Hearth Cooking Seminar & Dinner at Smoke Plano, Appreciating Charcuterie at Hibiscus, and Aesthetics of the Plate at FT33. I’ll be attending Roundtable: The Rise of Modern Texas Cuisine at Texas Spice on Sunday, so stay tuned for a recap of the talk on Monday. For those of you in the Dallas area, Savor Dallas just kicked off so try to get in to one of the many events if you can!