This will be my last post from Unscene Shreveport. Actually, I am already home, but I wanted to describe the final event for Sarah and Evan. Now, after two weeks of looking after a three-year-old and a three-month-old, my wife and I plan to rest.
On Saturday night, the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium became the focus of the food week. There was a small farmers market set up in the lobby, and fifteen local chefs joined Sarah and Evan to prepare an amazing array of dishes that were supposed to focus on the farm-to-table concept. Most, although not all, used products from the farmers market as the main ingredients in their foods.
As well, one local artist was assigned to each of the chefs to capture the food in images. Then there was music, bright lights, colored lights, and wine to establish a party atmosphere. And it was a party – about 600 people showed up.
The Municipal Auditorium is a classic Art Deco building that was completed in the late 1920s or early 1930s. For many years it served as the home of the Louisiana Hayride, a strong radio competitor with the Grand Ole Opry. Many of the greats of country music performed at the Hayride, including Hank Williams and even Elvis Presley. In fact, the street in front of the building has been renamed Elvis Presley Avenue. After the Hayride shuttered its doors, the auditorium fell on hard times. Paint peeled, plaster became loose, and windows got broken. Except for high school graduations, the space was on its way to becoming derelict. In recent years, however, the buildings around have been cleaned up or knocked down, and the Municipal Auditorium has had lots of love and care to restore it to its original grandeur.
Here is the menu for the evening:
- Sarah, Evan, and their Shreveport host, Chef Jason Brady served pork panzanella using the hog that they had butchered on Thursday.
- Chef Carolyn Manning of Blue served goat’s milk grits
- Chef Pansou served creole maux chow
- Chef Hardette Harris made a green garden salad
- Chef Charlie Reed from Superior’s Steakhouse prepared Toulouse beef striploin canapés, duck, and gravlax
- Chef Giuseppe Brucia of Giuseppe’s made cheese ravioli
- Chef Jason Reynolds of Zocolo prepared a chilled field pea salad
- Chef Tootie Morrison of Abby Singer’s Bistro served gumbo balls
- Chef Cedric Williams made chicken meatballs
- Chef Kevin Bourg from Wine Country Bistro had a refreshing chilled cucumber soup
- Tina Palmesano of Jester’s Catering served fresh shrimp tamales
- Chef Conrad Patterson provided individual pecan pies
- Chef Andrew Parsons of Lagniappe Foods made crostini topped with fig jam and pork liver paté
- Chef Eddie Mars from the Petroleum Club served pork cheek bahn day
- Chefs Lisa and TK Tike of Lilah’s made tres leches cake
- Chefs Scott Roebuck and Liz Bowen of Serendipity served veggie sliders
After all of that, there was no reason that anyone should go away hungry, but there was one more opportunity for food. Sarah and Evan served their gourmet popcorn to those who wanted to stay for a showing of the movie, Ratatouille.
From the Family Table 