Well, Taste of the Nation: Toledo, 2007 is now in the past. And boy, do my legs hurt.
I got to the west side of the river, across from The Docks, at about 1 p.m. to shoot some “beauty shots”, establishing the location for future viewers of the DVD. The tent for the event was set up just south of Navy Bistro. I tried a couple pans, moving from the Glass City Skyway to the right, settling on the tent for the fade-out. I realized a better vantage point would be from the northern-most point of the grounds of the old Owens-Corning campus, so I grabbed the tripod and headed over there. After shooting a couple panning shots, I was in the middle of one from the right involving the S.S. Willis B. Boyer when a voice from behind me bellowed, “How we doin’ this mornin’?”
Why do security guards feel as though they have to make you jump out of your skin?
Of course, security guards get nervous when there are cameras on the property. We chatted for a bit about the event. He had no idea what it was all about, and had thought the tent was for a wedding reception or something. I explained it was a $150-per-ticket fundraiser featuring 42 cooking stations with local and national chefs in a huge effort to raise money to feed the hungry in the Toledo area, and that there are similar events all across the country, including Detroit, on other weekends, all for the same purpose. He was impressed … he’d never heard of it. I know a lot of other people who haven’t.
I crossed the river and checked in at the volunter table. A lot of people there knew why I was there, and were thanking me quite a bit for putting together the video. It’s really a fun thing to do, and I tried to thank them for allowing me all that access. Of course, they had to be even more thankful. Sheesh …
Inside the tent final preparations were being made prior to the arrival of the chefs and their staffs. The tent, assembled from numerous smaller low-ceiling sections, was about 75′ x 150′. The front section was about 75′ x 75′. For the next 30′ or so there was a stage area and a narrower serving area, and then the back section was again all open. Decorations reflected the design of the web site, and each station had a couple 8′ tables. The four national chefs, Joanne Weir, Eve Aronoff, RJ Cooper and Don Yamauchi each had one of the four outer corners. The other outer corner in that back room was given to Chef Alan of Evans Street Station in Tecumseh.
I taped a lot of early preparations, but especially the entrance hallway. Guests were to go through the front of Navy Bistro, turn left and enter the tent through this hallway. Lined with pictures of children and families, this hallway spelled out exactly what the event was all about. The pictures there were saddening when you realized these are the kids who simply don’t get enough to eat.
Once the chefs and their staffs started arriving at about 3 the pace picked up … and never again settled down. Of course early on the gang from Navy Bistro set up their own station. They brought out the life-size waiter statue and placed it next to their station, then took pictures of each other standing with him like they were drinking buddies. Next to them, the folks from Tangos had a great display going, including a bottle of Cabo Wabo Tequila in a flower display made of dried corn husks.
Other early arrivers, Stella’s, Gladieux Catering, Zia’s, and many others, found themselves trying to roll large carts through an obstacle course of bistro tables, still-to-be-hung decorations, and 15′ ladders. The hilly landscape didn’t help, and various items such as martini glasses and portable cookstoves fell off carts on a regular basis. Only a few things were broken, mostly glass, so no harm was really done.
It literally took the full two hours from 3 till 5 for everyone to be ready for the doors to open. Chef Tad, Catherine, Cedric and Julie from the Frog Leg Inn had brought along Carlos as a volunteer to present their lamb burgers, steamed mussels and some amazing truffles Cedric had made. Joanne Weir herself brought along Chef Jim Rhegness of the Food Network Gingerbread Competitions as her Sous Chef. As Jim is also a co-worker of my wife Mary, he and I know each other. His students weren’t there yet to help, so I laid down the camera to help him get his things into the tent. One of the chefs from Gianno’s Inn is also one of the chefs at Cohen-Cooke in Bowling Green, one of our favorite places, so we chatted for a bit. And next to them, the guys from City BBQ had brought a whole hog, complete with an apple in his mouth.
The health department arrived with the temporary operating license. As they checked the temperatures of ingredients in coolers all throughout the tents, I was reminded of “No Reservations” from Saturday evening. In the episode from Paris, France, Chef Anthony Bourdain specifically mentions the fact that, in restaurants in Paris, there is no refrigeration for items that are going to be cooked. Meats, cheeses, vegetables and other items are out as they would be in a farmhouse, or in a restaurant in the not-so-distant past. He reflected on how this is impossible to do in the states, while in Europe such a thing is allowed, there are no problems, the food is positively fabulous … and there in the Taste of the Nation: Toledo tent, the hair-netted rubber-gloved minions of the health department were making absolutely sure items were at absolutely specific temperatures … for a 4-hour event. Such a contrast really makes you stop and think.
My Mary arrived and checked in around 4:30. We went around and chatted with the people she knows, those from the Frog Leg Inn (the badges on our lanyards read “Frog Leg Productions”), Chef Jim Rhegness, his co-worker Chef Denise, and realtor Cathy Smith, who was assisting The Katz Sisters with their wonderful cheesecakes.
Once 5 p.m. rolled around and almost 500 guests came through that tunnel, the place was loud and rambunctious for the rest of the evening. Mary and I took the camera from station-to-station, getting chefs to talk about their offerings, getting outside the tent to tape whole pork tenderloins being grilled over charcoal behind Mancy’s Steaks and lamb chops being grilled by the chef from Beirut over their massive outdoor cooker. At City BBQ the chef opened a flap on the back of that whole hog, hand-pulled some meat out, put it on a plate and handed it to me. Amazingly tender, hot and moist, it stood on its own. Chef Tad’s lamb burgers were spectacular, and I made a meal out of Cedric’s white chocolate truffles. The sushi at Koto Buki’s station was great, and later, Chef Tad did an on-camera interview with them for me. Chef Alan from Evans Street Station allowed me to tape him while he was cooking and talking, and afterward we talked about our mutual friends John and Erica at Boulevard Market. It seems John’s brother owns a farm where Chef Alan now gets all his greens, including what he had with him. At the Real Seafood Company they had some incredible mango and polenta sushi in a red wine reduction that was like candy. There was just so much food …
Mary and I went to all the stations to tape, but as time went on our bellies were simply too full to try much else. All the food was incredible. The chefs and their staffs worked wonderfully in pulling this event off from the standpoint of food.
After helping me tape all the stations, and eating some magnificent eats, Mary headed for home. I stayed for a while longer, Chef Tad interviewing a few of the co-chairs such as Labib Hajjar on-camera for me. I wouldn’t have known who these people were as they were so inconspicous, and I would not have found them if it weren’t for him.
I also put Terri Thompson of Paramount/Pro-Medica on-camera and asked her to talk about the evening. Totally impromptu, she laid out the whole thing beautifully, including stats, for probably 90 seconds. I’d been looking for a closing for the DVD, and this was definitely it.
Mary and I had walked for a long ways last night. I shot video on-and-off from 1 till 8 p.m., and am dog-tired. But tonight from we do the whole thing again, at the fundraiser at Blaze! All American Diner in Temperance. I need to get those camera batteries charged.
Please, pray for my legs. They need it.