The Scene: November 2009

We don’t like the rain. in fact, when it rains, staying inside with a bottle of Merlot and a DVD of He’s Just Not That Into You are pretty much the only things on the agenda. Alas, the wet stuff had its way with TACA Party on the Green, one of our favorite events of the year. See, we are big foodies, and we are also what some would refer to as “celebrity chef whores.” Not that we’ve ever actually, ahem, sharpened knives with a celeb chef. We just worship them a whole bunch and like to collect meetings with them the way other people might collect baseball cards (if anyone really does that anymore). Every year, TACA flies in chefs from all over the world for this event, and they are all required to cook a delicious dish for us to eat. Usually, the party happens in the yard around the Mansion on Turtle Creek, so we were hoping for tents when we pulled up to valet. No such luck. Instead, chefs and guests were packed into the Mansion ballroom and restaurant. First up, we ran into Mansion public relations manager Stephanie Hutson, who reminded us not to miss uber celeb chef Martin Yan, from the Yan Can Cook show. (Us? Miss Martin Yan? Did she think we are amateurs?) Then she pointed us in the direction of Mansion chef Eric Brandt’s table. “This is mint-crusted lamb, with an eggplant and goat cheese ravioli topped with home-preserved tomatoes,” he said, handing us plates. “Your home?” we asked coyly. “Um, no,” he said, and raised a confused eyebrow our way. This was our favorite dish—we went back for it twice. Chef Yan’s table had a huge group around it so we tried a few other dishes and elbowed our way to the Mansion Bar, where Caroline Rose Hunt was making herself comfortable. Two cocktails later, we sidled up to chef Yan’s station and were prepared to barrage him with questions. Unfortunately, a girl handed us his dish—roasted duck in a lettuce cup—while Yan turned his back. Just the kind of disappointment you’d expect from a rainy night, but at least we were fed well in the process.