Hot Young Professionals Take Over The Menil for a Celebrity Chef’s Feast

What: Menil Contemporaries Fund Dinner and Secret Ballot

Where: The Menil Collection

Who: President of the Menil Foundation Janet Hobby, The Menil Collection’s Interim Director Tom Rhoads, chair of the Menil Contemporaries Steering Committee Jessica Phifer, acclaimed chef Bryan Caswell and wife Jennifer Caswell

PC Moment: Draped in posh cocktail frocks and handsome ensembles, The Menil Collection‘s young professionals group — Menil Contemporaries — gathered at the museum for a night of fare and fundraising. The evening’s backdrop: three sprawling, candlelit dinner tables wrapped in tinges of Menil grey.

A swanky cocktail hour ushered in the night; following libations, an intimate evening with chef Bryan Caswell ensued.

Contemporaries were treated to a four-course pairing menu of goat cheese panna cotta and pickled beet salad; seared red snapper served with baby summer squash and brown butter; roasted filet of beet atop a pineapple red wine reduction; and bittersweet chocolate mousse cake finished with soft caramel and sun-dried fruits.

The night concluded with a secret ballot that determined which cause the Menil Contemporaries fund will support — campus greening reigned supreme, collecting the majority vote.

Interested in becoming a member of the Menil Contemporaries? Find out more information here.