Diners experience gourmet treats

The Baltimore Sun

It was peaceful in the elegant Tremont Grand ballroom where foodaholics gathered yesterday to nibble watermelon and mint salad, sushi and Belgian chocolates. They sipped wine to live saxophone music, blissfully unaware of the gastronomic furor on the other side of the marble corridor.

Only the legion of chefs and their assistants knew the frenzy behind the narrow wooden door marked "Staff Only."

No smooth jazz behind that door, just the hot garlic plumes from the ovens, the clatter of silverware being polished, the swish of knives against scallions and the whoosh of ripe avocados blending into a satiny chilled soup. Hours before, carts of groceries had been paraded into the kitchen and contents of paper bags were splayed across stainless-steel tables - 10 pounds of crabmeat, one case of avocados, 100 pounds of tuna, exotic mushrooms, herbs and extracts.

When it comes to preparing food, there is a storm before the calm - not that most of the 500 or so guests of the Baltimore Chefs and Wine Experience realized it as they went from food station to station trying some of the region's most delectable treats.

The first-time event - organized to whet the region's appetite for Baltimore Restaurant Week that begins today - was a showcase of some of the nation's and Mid-Atlantic's top cooking talent.

The city's Restaurant Week, which debuted last year with dining deals at about 60 restaurants, has grown to include more than 80 establishments this year, offering set two- and three-course menus for $20 and $30, respectively.

For $55 apiece, Chefs and Wine guests experienced cooking demonstrations and sampled food from a diverse group of culinary industry heavy-hitters - from the longest-serving White House chef, Roland Mesnier, to pharmaceutical sales rep-turned-lifestyle expert Hope Fox.

"We're really working to turn Baltimore into a destination for foodies in late July, early August," said Mike Evitts, a spokesman for the Baltimore Downtown Partnership Inc., a consortium that promotes downtown and managed the event. "I think this Chefs and Wine event goes a long way to put us on the map as a food destination, because of all the national talent we were able to bring in for this."

Travis Kaim, 23, came to the event to find new restaurants in town and learn how to pair wine with food. After a long talk with a chocolatier, he said he realized: "Food is like art. You appreciate it more if you understand how it's made, why it tastes the way it does."

For cocaine dealer-turned-lauded chef Jeff Henderson, among the celebrities at the event yesterday, food was salvation.

Henderson, who is also a best-selling author and motivational speaker, likes to tell people, "Twenty years ago, all I cooked was crack." These days, his specialty is sweet potato pot au feu, a slow-cooked sweet potato and sage broth he likes pouring over neckbones in a tribute to his grandparents' Southern roots.

He was king of a drug-dealing empire in Southern California that collapsed in December 1988 when he was arrested and sent to prison, according to his biography. He started cooking in prison kitchens, then got odd jobs in restaurants and worked his way up to the top posts in the kitchens of Bellagio and Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Now, he's negotiating with actor Will Smith over the rights to his life story and developing his own show for the Food Network.

He came to Baltimore fresh after a stop in Ohio teaching youths how to prepare and eat vegetable dishes.

"I want to take any opportunity to teach about food, instill that love and passion in people," Henderson said.

ruma.kumar@baltsun.com

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