the purple carrot: Food Now 2011

Monday, August 29, 2011

Food Now 2011: Dinner

Back with some more foodNow!

Missed Part I? Food Now: Pre dinner

Moving right along to dinner!! First off, the tables were decorated so beautifully and elegant. I loved the white chairs and tablecloths up next to the awesome cobblestone and bridge overhead. It’s not every day you get to eat outside under a beautiful bridge, you know!

A sample of some of the table centerpieces that I loved:

Each table seated 8 and as you can see below, there were a lot of tables. I wasn’t there last year to compare, but it seemed to me there was a really good turnout!

Participating farmers in this wonderful event were:

(I included the list of local chefs and restaurants in foodNow Part I)

During dinner there was a live auction to further support the local beneficiaries.

Dinner Menu

Erik and I requested the vegan version of the night’s three course dinner and it was delicious!

First Course:

“Roasted beets and pickled carrots with petite greens”

Second course:

I don’t have the full description for this dish, but it was really good as well. It tasted like some type of zucchini very thinly sliced mixed with dark sautéed leafy greens, seasonings and more. I’m not sure what else was in the mixture!

And dessert was:

“Vegan chocolate tart made with creamy organic chocolate ganache infused with organic bronze fennel on a gluten free pecan crust” Yum!

We had a great time meeting and talking with all the wonderful people who we were sitting next to!

FoodNow was such a wonderful event! We already can’t wait to go again next year! For more pictures, visit my Facebook page and look under the Food Now album.
It was definitely a place “where the art of real food grows” Winking smile

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Food Now: Pre dinner

Chalk it up for yet another amazing food event in Kansas City!

Food Now

On Saturday evening, Erik and I attended the 2nd Annual foodNow. Held in the West Bottoms under the 12th Street Bridge, Food Now is an all-volunteer gala that focuses on raising awareness and funding for local, healthier eating in Greater Kansas City.

Uhm, yeah, that’s more than right up our alley!

From about 6:30 to 8 there was cocktails and a silent auction. We had a nice time walking around checking everything out:

At one point as we were walking around, I had stopped to take a picture and all of a sudden Erik and I hear “there’s The Purple Carrot!” We turned around, and it turns out Loretta (from Prairie Garden Farm) had recognized us, or should I say Erik’s bald head, ha, from the blog. It was funny! And once again, great to meet you, Loretta and friends!

Along with tables full of silent auction items, there were booths from foodNow’s beneficiaries that include:

Recognize the “Get Growing” on the below black chalkboard from anything else? {Hint, hint: you should!} From Farm Aid, of course! At Farm Aid the chalkboard asked “How do you get your grown on?” and at foodNow it was asking “How do you eat with the locals?” Love it!