On June 27, 2009 the most magical event happened at my house! Three star chefs, a wine expert, and an artisan beef expert converged on my home to produce a fabulous night of unbelievable dishes, great friends, and great wine.

Carrie Oliver from the Oliver Ranch Company flew in from Canada, bringing with her a variety of artisan steaks from different ranchers and different breeds. The goal of the night would be for the chefs to each create a dish which highlights the quality of the beef, while adding their own flair and creativity.

Chef Fabrizio Schenardi (a Florida Trend Golden Spoon award winner, and the #1 chef of the Renaissance hotel chain) from Piemonte, Italy left his Tampa based Pelagia restaurant for the evening to perform his magic with Carrie Oliver's steaks.  Chef Gui Alinat (A French chef born and trained in Provence) joined us to represent the French way of cooking. And I was there to give a representation of how the northern Italians might prepare these filets, with my own southern (as in US) twang.

Matt Horbund of AGoodTimeWithWine.com  was gracious and came up from West Palm Beach to provide excellent wines carefully selected for each course. The selection of French, Italian and American wines paired perfectly with every dish.
 
Dr. Terry Simpson surprised us, flying in from Alaska with salmon and halibut he had caught the day before.  Chef Gui took on the challenge and would use the salmon as his first course.

The guests arrived both locally and from around the country.  Famous author and lecturer Tom V Morris came in from California, Author Jackie Silver from Tampa, Tampa Tribune writer Jeff Houck, The Gourmet Girl Magazine team Elaine and Louis came up from Naples, and Daytime TV producer April Wilson filmed the entire event.  Other notables included my publicist Sandi McKenna and beer expert Ashley Rouston.

The first course arrived.  Chef Gui prepared the salmon by poaching and dressed it with an incredible creme fraiche, I made a salad of arugula, caramelized apples and onions, brown sugar toffee, sauteed beets, and walnuts.  Chef Fabrizio prepared halibut and dressed his with a typical green sauce from the Piemonte region.
 
Since no Italian meal would be complete without pasta, Chef Fabrizio and I served a small plate of his gnocchi with my Bolognese sauce, topped with fresh parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
 
Then came my watermelon sorbetto, to cleanse the palate before the main courses.

Chef Fabrizio served a parmesan topped filet, I prepared my steak and served it with a red wine reduction, and chef Gui served his filet with fois gras.

For the final dish, we each created one of our signature desserts.  Chef Fabrizio prepared a strawberry mousse, I showed off my Italian rum cake, and Chef Gui demonstrated his caramel topped poached pear.

It was a great competition where everybody won, especially our friends in the dining room!  Great conversations were had, new friendships were formed, and old bonds were made stronger.