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A recognizable cool breeze was felt. Cardigans were worn. Shirts remained dry. Neither hair nor make-up wilted. It was a euphoria miracle.

 

Weatherman Jim Cantore finally earned his keep.

After the last three years of blistering heat (and by blistering, I mean the sunburn and dehydration were legendary), he finally invoked the powers of The Weather Channel and brought actual fall-like temperatures and humidity for Thursday’s euphoria 2019 kick-off.

A recognizable cool breeze was felt. Cardigans were worn. Shirts remained dry. Neither hair nor make-up wilted. It was a euphoria miracle.

First up was a rosé lunch at Restaurant 17 at Hotel Domestique with chefs Haydn Shaak and Teryi Youngblood Musolf. Combine rosé with the picturesque setting of the Hotel Domestique/Restaurant 17 property in the foothills, and it’s a wonder guests put their cameras down long enough to take a bite. They did, and all reports back were overwhelmingly positive.

Songwriter’s Recipe at Zen, a favorite event for music-lovers who enjoy a behind-the-curtain look as songwriting, showcased three stand-out Southeastern chefs — Bruce Moffat and Clarke Barlow from Charlotte and Dallas McGarity of Louisville, Kentucky.

All three guest chefs are making moves in their culinary communities. Moffat is working on restaurants No. 3 and 4 right now; Barlow just announced the sale of his hyper-local, farm-to-table restaurant Heirloom because he’s moving to Oregon; and McGarity, chef of two restaurants, was also recently named the chef at Copper & Kings Distillery’s Alex&nder lounge.

Across town, the first of the weekend’s Michelin dinners featured Michelin-starred chef Teague Moriarty of Sons & Daughters, San Francisco, at Fork & Plough with chef Shawn Kelly and Charleston’s chef Russ Moore of Slightly North of Broad (S.N.O.B.). Each chef used Southern inspired ingredients with their own unique bent, such as Moriarty’s tamal of Carolina Trout with a mescal corn sauce and corn and clam succotash.

Foodie Fights at Blue Ridge Creamery photos by Jack Robert Photography

At Jianna, two chefs named Michael — Smith of Farina in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kramer of Jianna — presented two dishes each in an Italian-inspired dinner called Spaghetti, Set, Go! that went lighter on the pasta but heavy on savory regional Italian flavors.

The last event of the night, the Greenville Kick-Off Party at Old Cigar Warehouse, featured more than two dozen local restaurants and beverage providers.

euphoria
Photo by Jack Robert Photography

Memorable dishes of the night include: 

  • Foraged mushroom larb from chef Anthony Gray of Bacon Bros. Public House
  • Johnny Cakes with smoked shrimp, pickled local produce, benne, and kimchi kewpie from chef Haydn Shaak of Restaurant 17
  • Tuna crudo with Giardinera, Calabrian peppers, Arbequina olive oil and saba from Steven Musolf of Limoncello
  • Cherry wood smoked and deep fried chicken wings from Woodside Bistro chefs Austyn McGroarty and Ken Frazier
  • Providence Farm beef pepperoni with puffed beef tendon, aji dulce and cucumber from Husk Greenville chef Jon Buck
  • Vegan tamale with Southwestern collard tamale, cashew nacho cheese, black bean and corn salsa from We Got the Beets food truck

Meanwhile, in Travelers Rest, a see-it-to-believe-it fringe event was going down (pun intended) with food and bev providers boxing each other to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Christian Hansen, the owner of Blue Ridge Creamery, where the “Foodie Fights” were held, took a punch to the face at the fists of LTO Burger Bar staff member Patrick Dunlap, and after crumpling to the ground, Hansen tapped out. Sarah DuBose of Sassafrass Flower Farm and Anna Okupinski of The Community Tap duked it out for three rounds, with DuBose named the winner.

No matter how much you drank at the kick-off party, you can’t feel worse than Hansen does today.

Greenville Journal