Beyond the Mimosa: 21st Annual Celebrity Chefs’ Brunch
Brunch has a love/hate reputation. Customers jam popular brunch spots and chefs typically cringe with dreaded Sunday morning Benedicts, omelet stations, and limp pancakes. Dust away the quivering, fold in a charitable cause, add serious culinary contenders, and brunch becomes more a pilgrimage and less something to do just to hurdle a hangover.
The 21st Annual Celebrity Chefs’ Brunch gleaned some unrivaled restaurant types in late April for the benefit of Meals on Wheels Delaware. Perched at the top of the first tee of DuPont Country Club’s fairways in northern Delaware, the three-room spread of cooking demonstrations and progressive buffet culminated the work of a serious fundraiser.
Returning for this year’s brunch as honorary chair, Top Chef seasons 10 and 14 contender and notorious kitchen stickler Chef John Tesar did nothing less than wow the brunchers. “I get invited to so many events. I like this one a lot. Everybody here is great,” Tesar said of this year’s brunch. “All of the food is outstanding. What a well-rounded event with great wines and great chefs.”
Tesar’s display was crowded with onlookers as he served thick-cut brioche French toast over smoky ham mingled with the sweetness of early spring berries.
With the likes of James Beard nominees, Top Chef contenders, and masters of the biz all dishing out their epicurean revelry, the venue murmured with the savoring of the one-off preparations. From the thought-provoking — Philly’s Anthony Marini’s steak tartare with red pepper relish — to an expert preparation of comfort fare — Bruce Kalman’s yeasted lemon-ricotta hotcakes — to the spirited — Magnolias’ Don Drake’s shrimp and grits — this was no ordinary breakfast.
Local celebrity and mega Chef Hari Cameron broke out the very (very!) expensive hand-cranked meat slicer to share thinner-than- paper slices of restaurant-cured ham. In as-expected style, Cameron’s dish had complexity and unconventional flair. The morsels of toasty granola garnish are made from spent hops, chef explains. Fellow James Beard Award nominee and Delaware icon Chef Pat D’Amico of Domaine Hudson presented a hugely well-received shrimp mousse cake.
Up from Charlotte, NC, chef Bruce Moffett created banana ice cream macaron sandwiches. The Celebrity Chefs’ Brunch veteran was scooping homemade ice cream tucked between vanilla macarons to elevate frozen sweetness to a celebrity brunch status.
Long-time participant chef Brandon Foster, on the road from Colorado, is always a crowd favorite. Chef Foster, of Project Angel Heart, took the egg route with inspired bent by lacing the soft scramble with ham, gruyere, mustard aioli and delicate brioche crumbles.
Any good brunch is made of memorable food and equally well-built cocktails. The balance of unctuous spirits while the sun is still rising takes a bit of crafty construction. Dotted throughout the maze of food displays, Stateside vodka, Santa Margherita wines, La Marca prosecco, and Bellini Cipriani, among many others, were adding even more merriment to the fervent feasting.
The at-capacity event enjoys a long run as a successful fundraiser, not only for the beneficiaries of the Delaware Meals on Wheels group, but the camaraderie of a legion of chefs and cooks that converge lesser-traveled culinary paths in Delaware. Over 900 attendees shared in the mid-day affair. “These people are making a difference,” proclaimed Tesar. “It’s a great event and we get a lot of people out to spend money.”
Learn more about Meals on Wheels Delaware
