A LEGENDARY EVENT wins ISES Esprit Award for High Museum Wine Auction

This weekend, A Legendary Event won a prestigious ISES Esprit Award from the International Special Events Society (ISES) in the category of Best Off-Premise Catered Event. A Legendary Event was awarded top honors for catering The High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction’s 16th Annual Gala Dinner. The menu's distinct southern flair was a big hit with the 800 wine-loving guests. In addition to A Legendary Event's Executive Chef Lincoln Stevens, the event featured several Guest Chefs from the Southern Foodways Alliance including Athens' Chef Hugh Acheson who prepared this savory low country stew (see above photo).

Traveling back from the awards ceremony in San Francisco, Owner and President of A Legendary Event, Tony Conway commented by phone, “It is great that our team’s work was recognized by our peers for such a title.” ISES is dedicated to recognizing excellence in events and honoring those individuals whose vision and creativity make their events "Special." For more information contact http://www.ises.com/.

Guest Chefs Dazzle High Museum Wine Auction Patrons

Left to Right: Chef Sam Mason, Chef Linton Hopkins, Les Dames d’Escoffier Member and Chef Mary Moore, Chef Scott Boswell, Chef Sean Brock, and Chef Lincoln Stevens.

For the 6th consecutive year, A Legendary Event collaborated with renowned guest chefs to compose a wine-inspired menu for the annual High Museum Wine Auction’s Gala Dinner. This year, A Legendary Event’s Executive Chef Lincoln Stevens joined forces with four guest chefs—Chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene and Holeman & Finch Public House; Chef Scott Boswell of New Orleans’ restaurants Stella! and Stanley; Chef Sam Mason of SoHo’s Tailor; and Chef Sean Brock of McCrady’s Restaurant in Charleston—to create and serve 2600 plates of haute cuisine for 650 guests in just under 90 minutes.

The Gala Event was held for the 4th time under big top tents in Atlantic Station—located conveniently in the heart of Atlanta’s cosmopolitan West Side. The menu lived up to this year’s theme—The Genius Inside. Chef Hopkin’s “Study in Seafood” featured a true southern favorite—She Crab Soup. The first course standout was an elegant cross between a bisque and a chowder flavored with Hopkin’s own Sherry Chive Jelly.

Chef Sean Brock tapped into his own brand of genius with a second course composed of broken frozen Foie Gras Terrine, Tart Apples, Cocoa and Hazelnut. The kitchen was bathed in a hazy nitrogen cloud while Chef Brock hammered his frozen concoction into tasty bits. He described his unique plate presentation as “looking like a bomb went off.” Chef Boswell’s entrée course of Almond and Mint Crusted Rack of Australian Lamb was juicy and hearty and Chef Sam Mason ended the evening on a sweet note with his rich and delicious Hazelnut Parfait with Bittersweet Chocolate Cream and Kumquat Confit. Chef Lincoln Stevens said, “It was a true honor to have Guest Chefs of this caliber join us for this year’s Wine Auction.”

According to Wine Spectator Magazine, The High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction consistently ranks among the nation’s top charity wine auctions. Last year’s High Museum Wine Auction raised record-breaking profits of more than 2.1 million dollars, marking only the second time in its history to raise over 2 million. The final figures for this year’s profits are currently being tabulated; however, wine committee members anticipate another successful year in terms of fund raising.