Private Farmers Dinner Draws Dallas’ Top Chefs and Lucky Foodies

What: Chefs For Farmers Friends of the Festival Dinner

Where: Clayton Kennington’s Home

PC Moment: Since its inception only a few years ago, Chefs for Farmers has become one of the most important dates on Dallas foodies’ calendars — and the city’s premier farm-to-table festival is only getting bigger and better with time. This year, the celebration was extended with the addition of the preliminary Friends of the Festival Dinner, an intimate preview of the culinary delights in store at the weekend-long festival.

Participating chefs, business owners and community members gathered at the home of Clayton Kennington to taste test a sampling of this year’s offerings and raise a glass to fresh collaborations.

Guests were welcomed with a BIG photo op stationed outside of the home, courtesy of Visit Dallas. Small bites were passed around during cocktail hour, along with glasses of Krupp Brothers Wine. Berrynaked popsicles floated in some of the glasses, infusing the wine with a fruity chill.

Top Dallas chefs including Josh Sutcliff (Mirador), Chris Patrick (Abacus), Alex Astranti (Uchi and Top Knot), Matt McCallister (FT33, Malibu Poke), Jon Alexis (TJ’s Seafood, Malibu Poke), Graham Dodds (The Statler) and their expert teams prepared an exciting “Ranch to Reef” dinner. The five-course tasting began with snapper tartare, prepared by the Malibu Poke duo, and concluded with mincemeat pie and clotted cream by Dodds.

Each course was accompanied by a distinct Krupp Brothers Wine, save Uchi’s King Crab course, which was paired with a Seersucker Southern Style Gin gimlet.

As the indulgent meal drew to a close, renowned chef Dean Fearing served up another unexpected treat – a live performance from his band.

It was a perfect teaser of the four-day-long event, which takes place each November. The inaugural Friends of the Festival Dinner was a private affair, but in 2018 the tantalizing event will be open to the public.

Who: Clayton Kennington, Robin Bailey, John Tesar, Dean Fearing, Heather and Gavin Kim, Kimberly and Justin Schlegel Whitman, Iris Midler McCallister, Phillip Jones, Ashley Allen, Marcus Allen, Brooks Jorgensen, Leah Moorhead and others.