Sundays are supposed to be a day of rest -- and a day of nursing the hangover left from the aftermath of Saturday night.
Starting the day with a brunch and a few cocktails never hurt anyone.
To follow up the after party and big dinners of Saturday night, the Palm Beach Food and Wine Fest held its "Southern Comfort: a Hair of the Dog Experience" on Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. Set directly on Swank Farms, the event brought together Swank Resident chef Lindsay Autry with Darryl Moiles of the Four Seasons and a bunch of celebrity chef participants and guests.
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Put together by the fest's organizer David Sabin, Autry, and Moiles, the event featured local and national celebrity chefs Timon Balloo of Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill, Michael Ferraro of Delicatessen, Marc Murphy, James and Julie Petrakis of the Ravenous Pig, Daniel Serfer of Blue Collar, Cochon's Stephen Stryjewski, Marc Vetri, Giorgio Rapicavoli of Eating House, Sarah Sipe pastry chef of Sundy House, and Clayton Miller.
Charles Steadman of Jack's Grumpy Grouper created cocktails onsite, while Jeff Benjamin, Mariya Kovacheva of Cafe Boulud, and David Lombardo paired the wines for the five-course meal.
While Autry regularly plans and executes lunches on the farm, this event was a much more intense planning process.
"The logistics were difficult this time," said Autry. "Some of the chefs live in New York, others in Philly; usually we use Swank Table to promote local chef recognition. This was a sic month process of contacting chefs and getting menus written. Darryl Moiles really helped me organize logistics. It takes a lot to get it to this."
Being that it was an outdoor event in South Florida, problems can arise easily. Right after the first course was served a torrential downpour let loose for about 20 minutes; Autry and her guests chefs got soaked trying to cover the grills.
"We're on a farm; so, you know something is going to happen," said Autry. "I was freaking out, because my next course was grilled. We spent all morning preparing these big beautiful fires and, of course, it rains. I think it lightened the mood a bit; people got to see me look like a mess. Fortunately, Marc Murphy had no problem getting soaked. But that's what we're supposed to do as chefs, adapt."
Even with the rain, the chefs and the band, including grammy winning musician Phil Roy and chef Marc Vetri didn't miss a beat -- guests weren't affected in the least bit.
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