Top Houston Chefs and Star Ballerinas Make For Delightful Food Couples

What: Houston Ballet Barre‘s “Raising the Barre”

Where: Artisans Restaurant

PC Moment: Four top chefs, four ballerinas, four courses and 160 enthused diners/balletomanes — it was a night of very good taste. For the first course Houston Ballet soloist Mónica Gómez teamed with Underbelly Hospitality culinary director Nick Fine. Second course found soloist Harper Watters teaming with Chris Davies, chef de cuisine at Uchi. Artisans executive chef Jacques Fox manned the stoves with soloist Hayden Stark for the main course while Fluff Bake Bar owner and pastry chef Rebecca Masson joined with soloist Tyler Donatelli to create a key lime pie dessert.

The evening honored founders of Ballet Barre Young Patrons, also founders of the Raising the Bar event, Kristy Bradshaw and Lyndsey Brown. Praising the honorees and setting the stage for the dinner was former Houston Ballet principal Barbara Bears, who today is one of the company’s ballet masters.

With chairs Elizabeth and Charlie Leykum and Elisa and Chris Pye at the helm, the evening exceeded its goal of raising $80,000 for education and outreach as well as for the ballet’s Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts.

Who: Jim Nelson, Isabel David, Chris Shepherd, Holly and Austin Alvis, Amy LeBlanc Cloud and Jeremy Cloud, Gina and Dr. Devinder Bhatia, Jay Jones and Terry Wayne Jones, Leigh and Reggie Smith, Kelley and Stephen Lubanko, Ann Trammell, Duyen and Marc Nguyen, Christina Stith, Erin O’Leary, Eleanor and Dan Gilbane and Isabel and Ransom Lummis.