Local Chefs on Stage at Community Fork-to-Table Event Sept. 15
(Salina, KS 09-17) Organizers announce plans for the second annual Feast on the Fe, a farm-to-fork dinner scheduled for Friday, September 15 in the Masonic Temple parking lot at 336 S. Santa Fe. The event is designed to showcase the Salina community through local farmers, chefs, entertainers and a collaboration of businesses and non-profits.
The event:
The Fest on the Fe's focal component is a five-course meal served at two large community tables seating 150 people total. Located in the Masonic Temple parking lot, Feast on the Fe includes a social hour and live music before and after the group meal. An area for the Feast itself will be roped off for admission by button only, while the stage area and live music will be free and open to the public. Featured musicians are Dex Umekubo with Dean Kranzler for the pre-dinner social hour, with the Pale Fire Kings from Kansas City performing after the Feast. There will be a cash-purchase beer and wine tent for public patrons to enjoy responsibly.
The food:
Organizers say the overall theme of this year's Fest on the Fe menus is harvest flavors and seasonal local produce. "We are celebrating the partnership of local producers with the talents of these local chefs," says participating Chef Shana Everhart of The Swedish Crown and Renaissance Cafe. "We will take these wonderful fall ingredients and elevate them. That's what makes cooking and eating locally so exciting." Fall squash, root vegetables and fresh herbs will be highlighted throughout the five-course meal.
Tony Dong, chef and owner of Martinelli's Little Italy, will provide the Feast's starter-an artful dish with sauteed Korean squash and zucchini prepared with gochjang and gochugaru (sweet and savory red pepper flakes or paste) and a grilled shrimp and buratta-cheese bruschetta.
Eric Shelton and Country Club sous chef Michael Styers plan a creative take on fruits and vegetables for the second-course salad, featuring variations on suchokes, a knobby root vegetable, and tomatoes. Sunchoke presentation by Chef Shelton will take the form of custard, chip and puree. Styers will delight the senses, adapting tomatoes by roasting, pickling, in fruitcake and paired with local-farm ricotta cheese.
The third course, prepared by Tyler Gallagher, owner of Seraphim Bread, is a Bavarian Salad with German bratwurst, pretzel bread and pickled radish and cucumber.
The main course, featuring locally raised Heritage chicken, will be masterfully presented by Chef Shana Everhart from The Swedish Crown and Renaissance Cafe. The chicken will be accompanied by Swiss chard with a mascarpone potato puree and spiced pears.
The meal's final note is a one-of-a-kind dessert by pastry chef Laura Lungstrom. Head cook at Soderstrom Elementary School in Lindsborg, Lungstrom will present a butternut-pear gingerbread with caramel mascarpone sabayon, honey ginger and white balsamic-glazed blackberries and candied pumpkin seeds.
Feast on the Fe chefs will procure their raw ingredients--over 80 percent sourced locally--with the coordination and support of John Holmquist of The Land Institute and chef and restaurant owner Shana Everhart.
The admission:
Admission buttons go on sale at the beginning of business on Friday, September 1 at Ad Astra Books & Coffee House and Prairieland Market, at $40 per person. A limited number of seats are available. The Friday Night Live concert taking place alongside the Feast is free. There will be gate personnel to verify button admission at the enclosed area for the meal.
The schedule for the second annual Feast on the Fe event on Friday, September 15 is:
*5 p.m. to 6 p.m.: gates open at the Masonic Temple parking lot at 336 S. Santa Fe. Social hour at Strand Plaza across the street west of Campbell Plaza, featuring live music by Dex Umekubo and Dean Kranzler.
*6 to 8 p.m.: The Feast, featuring five courses as outlined, served with water, iced tea and coffee.
*7:00 to 8:30: Friday Night Live concert featuring the Pale Fire Kings in the Masonic Temple parking lot. Concert is free and open to the public.
Admission buttons are available until September 12th or until sold out. Net proceeds from the Feast on the Fe will benefit Prairieland Market and local growers. For more details, contact John Holmquist at johnholmquist@live.com or visit @salinafeastonthefe. Ad Astra Books and Coffee House is located at 141 N. Santa Fe, 785-823-2235 and Prairieland Market is at 305 E. Walnut, 785-827-5877.
