TerraVita dinner to play with fire
The TerraVita Food & Drink Festival, now in its ninth year, brings chefs, beverage producers, sommeliers, cookbook authors, food artisans and food media from throughout the Southeast to Chapel Hill, Carrboro and the surrounding areas each fall. The sustainable, multi-day celebration covers topics ranging from craft cocktails and fermentation to heirloom apples and barbecue.
But one special dinner focuses on fire.
At the annual Hill Fire Dinner – which takes place at the Carrboro Town Commons, home to the Carrboro Farmers’ Market – participating chefs use KUDU open-fire charcoal grills to feed a crowd under the moonlight.
On Oct. 18, this once meat-centric dinner will put vegetables front and center. Instead of a variety of meats prepared over fire, TerraVita will celebrate the bounty of local farms with a vegetable-focused menu.
Some proteins will be served, but not in a starring role.
Certain TerraVita events feature only North Carolina talent, but Hill Fire brings together 11 regional chefs. Three of them have been nominated for the coveted James Beard award, and their collective resume includes time at The French Laundry, El Bulli, Northern Spy Food Company, Husk Charleston, Five & Ten and the inspirational Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
Here’s a look at the chef lineup and the menu:
- Clark Barlowe of Heirloom in Charlotte – preparing farmer Jim Bowman’s rabbit wrapped in kudzu with foraged black trumpet mushroom and legume stew.
- Matthew Register of Southern Smoke BBQ in Garland, NC – preparing eggplant caponata.
- Caroline Morrison of The Fiction Kitchen in Raleigh – preparing griddled sweet potato biscuits with smoky barbecue mushrooms and grilled apple-radish relish.
- Brittanny Anderson of Metzger Bar & Butchery and Brenner Pass in Richmond, VA – preparing grilled winter squash, farro matafan, lardo and pepita gremolata.
- Jason Alley of Pasture and Comfort in Richmond, VA – preparing charred broccoli with a fish sauce vinaigrette and peanut-chili relish.
- Ian Boden of The Shack in Staunton, VA – preparing grilled trumpet mushrooms, hominy and black garlic soubise, scallion and benne.
- Florence Melin of Sucre & Sel in Cary – preparing lemon verbena mousse verrine, strawberry cardamom and anise coulis.
- Lydia Clopton of Love, Lydia Bakery and PinPoint in Wilmington – preparing Moonglow pear upside down cake with honey crème fraîche.
Additionally, the following chefs will serve up veg-forward creations at the Hill Fire Dinner: Kevin Callaghan of Acme Food & Beverage Co. in Carrboro; Josh DeCarolis of Mothers & Sons in Durham; and Greg McPhee of The Anchorage in Greenville, SC.
On the beverage side, Sean Umstead from Kingfisher in Durham will craft cocktails using Cathead Distillery spirits, and Botanist & Barrel of Cedar Grove will serve its hard cider. The dinner begins at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets (must be 21 or older) are $80 and can be purchased at terravitafest.com. If you have food allergies or dietary restrictions, festival organizers suggest you contact them before purchasing tickets.
