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Living the sweet life at La Dolce Vita
Maybe it was the beautiful weather. Or the smiling chefs serving bite-sized portions of their fine fare. Or the proud winemakers showing off their newest creations. Or the babysitter who made it so my husband and I could have a date night. Or spotting a smooch between Daily Juice co-owner Matt Shook and wife Kelly, who skipped out on the sitter and brought baby Annabelle along.
Something about last night’s La Dolce Vita was special.
Sure, parking was tough, it was packed and, like every year, they started to run out of wine and food toward the end, but the annual fundraiser at Laguna Gloria for the Austin Museum of Art was full of friendly folks who were getting more friendly by the bite (or, more likely, by the sip).
Chefs, such as Bhupender Singh Rawat of Taj Palace, above, handed out samples of dishes that represented their restaurants, which explains why the playful Kevin Williamson and Antonio Vidal of Ranch 616 served fancy Frito pie straight in the bag.
Some of my favorite wine of the night came from Spicewood Vineyards owner Ron Yates, whom I profiled for last year’s wine guide. Yates was eagerly pouring 2008 Touriga Nacional and 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, two of his newest wines. The touriga in particular stood out from many of the wines we sampled.
Sao Paulo’s Restaurante had their own little surprise in the form of these little pumpkins, which were filled shrimp sauteed in red palm oil with cilantro and tomatoes and topped with crispy plantains.
By the end of the night, photographer Annie Ray didn’t have to try too hard to pull people out of their shells in her fun photo booth.
They were already having a good time; she just had the delightful job of capturing it.
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By Jonathan Gelman
October 16, 2009 6:48 PM | Link to this
What a great event, thanks to all who made it out last night, we had a blast. Chef Jonathan Gelman @ Driskill Grill