Gourmet for the greater good

Taste of the Nation serves local causes

By Anne Burnett, For the Camera
April 27, 2005

Picture yourself cooking for a crowd of 500 people. The chopping, the mixing, the sauteeing. How many ovens would you need? How many pans? How about getting all the food on plates? Only an army of chefs could rise to such a challenge.

Fortunately the battle has been joined by 30 or so of Boulder County's best for Taste of the Nation on Sunday, where chefs from around the county will produce a gourmet meal for attendees.

Table after table will overflow with dishes such as torte basilica, scallop quenelle with English pea mousse, truffled lobster bisque, Spanish prosciutto with fig sauce, shrimp diabla, King Canyon buffalo carpaccio with baby arugula and chipotle, crab cakes, Planet Porter milk shakes, coconut ice cream and much more.

Getting all these dishes to the public in restaurant-quality form can present a challenge.

"We want to make fresh, hot food, but we don't want to set the smoke alarms off with our burners in the middle of a crowded ballroom," says Mark Monette, chef and owner of the Flagstaff House in Boulder and a participant in this year's Taste of the Nation.

Event organizers hope to raise $50,000 for Community Food Share and the People's Clinic. Boulder began hosting the event in 1989 and has raised about $550,000 since that time.

"My staff all want to come with me, and my kids have come every year to enjoy the food and the fun," says Monette, adding that he knows what he's making — pancetta-wrapped quail, crispy-seared with white truffled Italian polenta and a red wine reduction — but hasn't quite figured out the logistics yet.

Chefs donate the ingredients as well as their time.

"We pay for everything, and we give it all away to raise money," Monette says.

About 500 to 600 people usually attend. Organizers say the $65 price tag is less than the typical cost of a multi-course meal at a fine restaurant and gives attendees a chance to sample the best of a variety of chefs.

WHAT • Taste of the Nation

WHEN • 5:30 to 9 p.m. on Sunday

WHERE • Glenn Miller Ballroom, 1669 Euclid Ave., the University of Colorado.

TICKETS • $65 in advance, available at Liquor Mart in Boulder and Willow River Cheese Importers in Longmont. Or call Community Food Share at (303) 652-3663 or People's Clinic at (720) 565-4116. To order tickets online, visit www.tasteofthenation.org/boulder. Tickets may be purchased at the door.