The Wine and Food Foundation of Texas has just announced the celebrity chefs for this year’s Stephan Pyles Celebrity Chef Dinner and Auction. This annual event funds the $15,000 Stephan Pyles Culinary Scholarship. The press release announces:
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas is thrilled to announce the culinary line up for the 12th Annual Stephan Pyles Celebrity Chef Dinner & Live Wine Auction to take place December 4, 2011 at Chef Pyles’ flagship restaurant, Stephan Pyles. The event is presented in part by sponsor Central Market.
Six celebrity chefs, including Chef Pyles, will present a spectacular five-course wine dinner followed by a lively auction to benefit one of the nation’s largest culinary scholarships, The Stephan Pyles Culinary Scholarship. The scholarship winner will prepare passed hors d’oeuvres served during the champagne reception. The short but action-packed live auction will include restaurant packages, rare and fine wines and other luxury items. Each course will be prepared by a different chef including:
- 2011 Stephan Pyles Culinary Scholarship winner Renee Morgan from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, Austin
- Chef/Owner David Garrido of Garrido’s, Austin·
- Chef/Owner Jason Dady of The Lodge Restaurant , San Antonio·
- Chef/Owner Nick Badovinus of Neighborhood Services Bar· & Grill, Dallas
- Chef/Owner Stephan Pyles and Executive Chef Joel Harrington of Stephan Pyles and Samar by Stephan Pyles, Dallas
- Pastry Chef/Owner Rebecca Rather of Sugar· & Smoke, Fredericksburg
Stephan Pyles Celebrity Chef Dinner
A champagne reception kicks off the evening at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7 p.m. Seating is limited and reservations are required. The price is $150 per person (tax and gratuity included). Reservations can be made by calling the Foundation at (512) 327-7555 or by visiting www.winefoodfoundation.org.
The Stephan Pyles Culinary Scholarship is based upon an Iron-Chef style cook-off each spring. Numerous students apply from across the state, and the top three applicants are selected for the challenge; the students must create a three-course menu utilizing a predetermined list of Texas ingredients. The event is named for celebrity chef Stephan Pyles, a legendary founding father of Southwestern cuisine and the first chef in the Southwest to win the prestigious James Beard award. The competition is open to currently enrolled students at an accredited culinary school in the state of Texas, and applications for the 2012 competition are now available at www.winefoodfoundation.org/scholarship/cook-off-scholarship.
The Wine & Food Foundation of Texas is a statewide charitable Foundation (501c3) that supports education and research in the culinary and viticulture arts. Chef Pyles is a long-time Foundation champion and Emeritus Board member. “We are proud to have accomplished eleven years of scholarships for Texas’ student chefs. Past winners have moved on to accomplish extraordinary things in our state and to have been able to provide that opportunity for them is truly humbling,” stated Pyles. “This year we want to celebrate the hard work of everyone involved and make this dinner an event to remember.”
