Foie Gras Sliders: Sun Winefest 2010

This weekend I was given an incredible opportunity through Johnson and Wales to attend the 2010 Sun Winefest at Mohegan Sun for their celebrity chef night.  Around 38 students boarded the special functions bus yesterday afternoon to head down to Connecticut, all carrying our perfectly pressed chef's coats on hangers so they wouldn't get wrinkled on the way there.
 

Upon arriving, we were escorted down a long corridor behind the scenes at Mohegan Sun.  Servers and kitchen staff with carts of mis en place hurriedly shuffled around us.  We were each craning our necks trying to peek into the kitchens to get a glimpse of the chefs we had come to see.  But first things first.  We were taken to an office where we were asked to drop off our coats and put on our chef whites.  And afterward, more waiting ensued.  To ensure that we wouldn't eat all of the delicious food that the celebrity chefs were preparing, the coordinator wisely satiated our appetites in the employee dining room which was nothing more than a mediocre cafeteria. 

Finally, the moment had arrived.  We were brought into one of the wings of the banquet hall where we were greeted by the executive chef of Mohegan Sun, Michael Luboff, and the executive pastry chef of Mohegan Sun, Lynn Mansel.  (Fun fact about Chef Mansel - He currently holds the Guinness World Record for the largest wedding cake.  It was large enough to serve 59,000 people!)  They were both very welcoming and seemed happy to have us there to help.  Assignments were then handed out.  With 17 celebrity chefs and 38 students, we were grouped into twos and threes to be sent to various chefs.  Luckily, I was grouped with my friend Amanda who I've known since early last fall.  The two of us were placed with Chef Ben Ford of Ford's Filling Station in Culver City, CA.  Oh yeah, and he's Harrison Ford's son.  Pretty cool, right? 

Amanda and I were the only assistants that Chef Ford had at his station in the main banquet hall, so we spent around 3 hours assembling and plating his dish: foie gras sliders.  The foie gras was seared off before being placed onto a french-toasted brioche bun with candied leeks, caramelized onions, micro greens and a special tomato jam from Maine.  We prepared and assembled several hundred of these for the guests, and many of them came back for thirds and fourths.  I tasted one, and it was absolutely delicious.  The flavors melted together perfectly.

Since Chef Ford did not have any other help at his station, Amanda and I had little time to wander around, but in my few spare minutes, I made the rounds.  I spotted Bobby Flay, Govind Armstrong, Chris Schlesinger and others.  If I had known that was going to be my only time to mingle, I would have taken pictures with them.  But alas, when our bus arrived, we were given little notice and were quickly herded together for one last group picture before being sent out the door.  Along the way, Amanda and I were able to swing by Robert Irvine's station for a quick photo.  (Robert Irvine is host of Food Network's "Dinner: Impossible".) 

It was an incredible experience being in a room with chefs of that caliber, and it is a memory that I will treasure.  I just hope that I'll be lucky enough to attend another event of that nature soon!