![<B>Dan Prather,</B> co-chair of the CultureHaus board, thanks Art of the Chef leaders <B>Dina Chaiffetz,</B> center, and <B>Ania Iwaniczko.</B> <!--IPTC: [CUT1]Dan Prather, co-chair of the CultureHaus board, thanks Art of the Chef leaders Dina Chaiffetz, center, and Ania Iwaniczko. [CREDIT]Chris Hibner, Special to The Denver Post-->](/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/20110303__20110306_E13_FE06DAVIDSONp1.jpg "20110303__20110306_E13_FE06DAVIDSON~p1.JPG")
The opportunity to taste food that was as artfully presented as it was palate-pleasing was only one of the enjoyable aspects of Art of the Chef, a cooking competition that raised money for CultureHaus, a group that Gov. John Hickenlooper helped start in 1997.
The purpose of CultureHaus is to bring increasing numbers of the “young at art” to the Denver Art Museum, and fun, well-attended events like Art of the Chef have played a large part in accomplishing that goal.
Owners Darby Donahue and Kent Kidwell opened the spacious headquarters for their Gourmet Fine Catering for this event, chaired by Dina Chaiffetz and Ania Iwaniczko.
Those with VIP-level tickets arrived early for a wine and cheese pairing; later, a crowd of 300-plus filtered in for cocktails, appetizers and a taste of the specialty dishes that chefs from seven restaurants and food companies — plus Keith Taylor and Emerson Lembke from Gourmet Fine Catering — had prepared for judging by Denver’s “Gabby Gourmet,” Pat Miller; Jorge De La Torre from Johnson & Wales University; Denver magazine food writer Ruth Tobias; CultureHaus board member Kasia Iwaniczko; Clock Tower Events owner Holly Kylberg; and Suzanne Brown, LifeStyle editor of The Denver Post.
Submissions included ahi tuna tartare from Campagna, black rice cake with curry glazed prawns from the Kitchen Mistress and white bean miso hummus with eggplant and fennel salad from Udi’s.
Their favorite dish ended up being from popular breakfast restaurant Snooze: chef Joseph Strelnik’s espresso-braised pork belly with micro root vegetables. Why such fascination with pork bellies? “It’s basically bacon, and it has a lot of flavor,” explained De La Torre.
Guests included Jenn Penn and Dan Prather, co-chairs of the CultureHaus board; chair-elect Jim Guttau; Cori Plotkin, the community outreach chair, and her boyfriend Tyler Streeter; Bobbi Walker of Walker Fine Art; Jenny Salimi; Tom Hewitt; Jenn McIntire; and Gary Stefanski.This and that.
Design Works by Dave and Mike will bring the sandy beaches of Ibiza to the Hyatt Regency Convention Center on March 19 when National Jewish Health stages its annual Beaux Arts Ball. Dress is white-tie optional for this “holiday on the Spanish Mediterranean” that has Carrie and John Morgridge, Linda and Rich Schierburg, Viki and Jack Thompson and Joni and Scott Wylie as grand marshals and Iris and Michael Smith as the Lorber Award recipients. Tickets can be purchased from Terrie Baros, 303-398-1064. . . . Littleton resident Kate Chenery Tweedy, co-author of “Secretariat’s Meadow: The Land, the Family and the Legend,” is the speaker for Chapter Three of Tables of Content, a dinner/lecture series put on by the University of Denver Humanities Institute. Richard and Michele Right are hosting the March 17 event at their home; details are at Content. . . . Mort and Edie Marks are honorary chairmen for the Listen Foundation’s 15th annual Biggest Event Never to Happen. It’s a direct-giving appeal to fund services that the Greenwood Village-based Listen Foundation provides to deaf and hearing-impaired children; learn more by visiting or by calling 303-781-9440.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com; also, and GetItWrite on Twitter
