Art of Dining

I was invited by my boss to attend the 20th Annual Art of Dining gala this week. The event was promoted as "an evening of culinary adventure and fine wine celebrating women and girls," benefiting the Women's Funding Alliance. According to their web site, the Women's Funding Alliance is the leading funder in Washington state that invests in and advocates for women and girls. By strategically supporting organizations that promote progressive change for women and girls, we have a dramatic impact on the overall health of our community. It sounded like a fabulous event for a very good cause to me, and all Art of Dining proceeds directly benefit WFA's critical work of creating social change for women and girls in the Puget Sound region.

Wine tasting before dinner...

The festivities began with wine tasting and hors d'oeuvres followed by dinner featuring Seattle's top female chefs, wineries, entertainment and an auction. The chefs generously donated their food, time and talents for the benefit of women and girls. Each table was treated to a unique four-course dinner prepared and presented by the chefs and paired with of the region’s exquisite wines. For our personal chef we specifically pre-selected Lisa Dupar, who my company had worked with previously and found absolutely amazing. It was definitely the right choice!

Specialty Cocktail: Sicilian Prosecco Royal

Crisp Tomato Breadstick with black smoked bamboo salt butter

Hard Boiled Egg & Roe with brown butter and pink salt

Green & White Yakima Asparagus with fried egg dressing & shitake bacon

Oregon Pink Shrimp Cake on spring ramp kimchee, sugar snap peas & pink ginger

Caramelized Beef Tenderloin with herbal spinach gruyere broth

Creme Fraiche Cheesecake with blueberry snow

The food was absolutely amazing, and the hard boiled egg was absolutely hands down one of the most delicious things I have ever eaten. During dinner local TV personality John Curley auctioned off delicious desserts donated by local chefs and bakeries, and afterward Governor Chris Gregoire shared her personal leadership story and received the WFA’s first-ever Game Changer Award due to "her work to appoint unprecedented numbers of women to leadership posts and her constant support of women pursuing elected office has been game changing for women and girls in Washington state."

Hanging out with some of my favorite co-workers for the evening was lots of fun, and I felt lucky to participate in such an inspirational event celebrating and supporting women and girls in our community.