The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens collaborated with the Louisiana Culinary Institute for the annual fundraiser Gourmet in the Garden during which participants sampled cuisine and cocktails provided by Baton Rouge chefs and mixologists.
Botanic Gardens Assistant Director Mary Coco said the event included a contest between local restaurants who provided a specialty dish for judges and attendees to try. Local bars and LCI chefs also created specialty drinks for participants and judges to taste test. Coco said for each contest, judges voted for the best food or drink, but participants also had the chance to vote on their favorite mixed drinks and food.
“We also have people’s choice,” Coco said. “Everybody that attends gets a poker chip this year and they put it in a jar at the front of everybody’s table for whichever food is their favorite.”
Rstaurants participating in the event included Bin 77, Kona Grill, The Overpass Merchant and Curbside Burgers. The Overpass Merchant provided a tuna tartar for competition while Kona Grill brought a lobster tempura roll to the table.
The Overpass Merchant Manager Jackie Strickland said their dish represented the restaurant’s food theme, while server and bartender at Kona Grill Clay McCaroll said they wanted to bring cuisine that was different.
“It’s something a little unusual,” McCaroll said. “You don’t find lobster in a lot of rolls. It’s really popular.”
Colt Patin, a chef instructor at LCI, worked with local restaurants for their participation and food donations for the event. Patin also brought LCI students to compete in a dessert competition. The students were given a spice either the day before or the morning of the event and worked in teams by class to create a dessert recipe including that spice. One team’s spice was peppercorn, and their creation was a peach peppercorn macaroon.
“Over at LCI, we kind of challenge our students to expand their horizons, to grow and create some really good food,” Patin said.
Patin said the purpose of Gourmet in the Garden is to raise money for programs at the Botanic Gardens and LCI.
“We have two reasons for gourmet in the garden,” Patin said. “One is to help raise funds for the Louisiana Culinary Institute Foundation, which helps with need-based scholarships, and we feed the homeless shelters … We are also helping the Botanic Gardens here at Burden. It’s a good fundraiser to bring in really good chefs, really good bartenders, to create really good spirits and to raise awareness for two really good foundations and causes.”
LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens Director Jeff Kuehny, who was one of the two cocktail judges, said the event was a fundraiser centered on the gardens.
“All the events we have are related somehow to the gardens,” Kuehny said. “Food of course comes from gardens and also cocktails. A lot of cocktails are made from different ingredients from plants.”
Kuehny said the event was not only for the Baton Rouge community but for University students to attend and enjoy as well.
“We always encourage students to come out and enjoy the gardens, the rural life museum and everything because it’s part of their property too,” Kuehny said.
