Dinner with Chef John Besh a Success for Reconcile

On Thursday evening the Café glowed as Chef John Besh and his staff from Restaurant August stormed our kitchen to host the first in a series of fundraisers to support our culinary training program.  The remaining dinners will feature the executive chefs from each of Chef Besh’s other restaurants: Lüke, The American Sector, Domenica, La Provence, and Besh Steak.  Chef Besh has been a longtime supporter of Cafe Reconcile, employing a number of our graduates and donating a portion of the proceeds from his new cookbook, My New Orleans, to support our program.

The sold-out crowd of 70 included many old friends and supporters of Café Reconcile, and we were thrilled to welcome some new faces to our mission as well.  Guests arrived at 6:30 to enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, including fried oysters with caviar, jambalaya riz en boule, shrimp remoulade, pissalidiere, crawfish beignets, and petite beet salad.  Café Reconcile students and graduates worked alongside members of Chef Besh’s own wait staff to serve the guests.  After Sr. Mary Lou Specha offered a brief welcome,  Rev. Mark Lewis, SJ, said Grace.  Chef Besh then took the stage and talked about his inspiration for his four-course meal from his cookbook, My New Orleans.

The first course was a Stuffed Blue Crab “Grand-Mere” paired with a Chateau St. Michel Horse Heaven Sauvignon Blanc.  Chef Besh told the crowd that his inspiration for this dish came from his Grandmother.  He recounted how he never ate crab cakes growing up; instead, his grandmother always made stuffed crabs.  The second course was a “Breaded” Speckled Trout Pontchartrain paired with a Droughin Macon Villages, a White Burgundy.  Chef Besh prepared this classic New Orleans dish with pan-fried local trout, brabmeat, and mushrooms.

Paired with a Concannon Pinot Noir, Chef Besh presented as his third course a Navarin of Local Lamb with wild mushroom, fava beans, and cavatelli, using lamb from Chef Besh’s farm on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain.  The meal concluded with Strawberry Shortcake using Ponchatoula Strawberries and paired with a St. Supery Moscato.

As the evening wound down guests mingled with Chef Besh and received a signed copy of My New Orleans.

Perhaps those in attendance who had the most fun were the students and staff who worked the event.  The students enjoyed the wonderful food and were surprised how comfortable they were working next to Chef Besh and his staff. Chef Joe, Executive Chef of Café Reconcile, felt especially honored to work with Chef Besh, commenting,  “In any profession it is always an honor to work with those who are the best at what they do.  Working with Chef Besh was like watching a world class artist paint a beautiful picture.”

Thank you to Chef John Besh and your staff for a wonderful evening.  Your support of our program, mission, and students is inspiring.  Thanks as well to our friends at Chevron, Republic Distributors, and Destination Kitchen for helping to make our fundraiser dinner a big success.  Thanks as well to Tom Fitzmorris and nomenu.com for helping us spread the word about our cause.  Stay tuned for our next “Celebrity Chef Dinner!”

Click here to view pictures from the event.