Last week Chef Alexandra Feswick held The Dinner Party based on visual artist and feminist Judy Chicago’s original installation at the Great Hall for the second year. After a cocktails reception in the Samuel J Moore on the ground level of the iconic Queen St West building, where guests were treated to foie gras offerings from Chef Charlotte Langley of Catch, we ascended the red carpeted stairs to the Great Hall, and sat down to the our places at the triangle table for a second time.
I turned to my dinner guest, Adie, and lamented how much had changed in the past year since the first The Dinner Party. This website wasn’t even a twinkle in our eye yet, for instance. This taking stock of life and change was, I think, an underlying sentiment of the evening. Par exemple, some chefs appeared on the menu a second time but with a different establishment listed beside their names and in her keynotes speech at the beginning of the evening Chef Feswick spoke about how she intends to keep doing The Dinner Party until the word female no longer has to proceed a chef’s name.
This year’s dinner saw proceeds benefit the Canadian charity Water Can, whose mission is to provide drinking water solutions to communities around the world, with the hope that the time spend traveling and hauling clean drinking water — time intensive, laborious work predominantly done by girls and women — can be reinvested in to education and development.
True to the intent of Judy Chicago’s original piece, each table setting was unique, with a patchwork of textiles and each of the chefs had chosen women of influence to who they dedicated their dishes. Our impeccable foie gras Hor d’oeuvres where dedicated to Clare Smyth, Helene Darroze, and Anne Sophie Pic –all Michelin Star Chefs.
Bread was served at the table. Foccacia with mascarpone and butter by Carla Digenova of Pizza Liberetto. Dedicated to Kate Bush. Also of Pizza Liberetto, Tiffany Wong dedicated her Amuse of grilled calamari, Nduja, and olives to Dr. Emily Stowe, the first female doctor to practice in Canada.
A first course of coppa di testa with green goddess sauce (natch) was dedicated to Katherine Switzer, the first women to run the Boston Marathon as a registered entrant was served up to us by Chef Tara Lee of Skin & Bones (an avid runner herself we learned).
Torched scallops, watermelon radish, taro root, wine jelly and burnt honey from Leonie Lila of The Libertine stepped up the colour pallet game. With it’s punches of pink and delicate whites and yellows the dish was dedicated to former Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
A palate cleanser in the form of a dose of lime, cucumber and gin scented granita dedicated to poet Hua Mulan, again from Tiffany Wong, carried us on our high into the main. Confit pork, peach marmalde, peaches & cream cornbread, bloodlust butter, burnt cream. Chef Trish Gill really outdid herself this year. The dish was pared with a butter bourbon on the rocks from The Dock ellis, Gill’s new home, and was dedicated to Anne & Nancy Wilson of Heart — two seriously skilled goddesses who lead countless girls to pick up the guitar and make music (rock or otherwise). If you’ve never had a butter bourbon, you should, right now, this very night. It had my bourbon/whisky/scotch hatting dinner guest melting.
Finally it was Chef Feswicks turn. Dessert had arrived and we were treated to creamed barley, banana, chocolate, pineapple, cheery & brown sugar. Dedicated to Mary Wollstonecraft.
If you could be part of a Dinner Party what dish would you create and who would you dedicate it to?
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