A couple weekends ago, I had the honor of attending Farm, Fork & Cork. Farm, Fork & Cork is an amazing event for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I am proud to say that they raised over a quarter of a million dollars that night. The gourmet meal and fundraiser were held at Michael W. Smith’s Deer Valley Farm in Franklin, TN. In its third year, Farm, Fork & Cork is a memorable meal and fundraiser featuring a cocktail hour, a silent auction, and seated dinner.
Driving through the country roads of Franklin lead to you a large gated driveway that meandered through the forest and transported you to a beautiful setting. It opened up to a large field, luxury bathrooms, massive barn and a large pond encircled by towering green trees. You couldn't imagine a finer setting.
The auction provided some amazing experiences available to bid on. You could bid on a picnic with Amy Grant, have breakfast with Vince Gill, numerous autographed guitars, a meet and greet with Tim and Faith or a cooking class with celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan and yours truly.
A five-course meal was curated by a varitable dream team of chefs. The lineup consisted of Chef Andy Little from Josephine, Chef Hal Holden-Bache from Lockeland Table, Deb Paquette from Etch and Etc., Chef Trey Cioccia from The Farm House, and pastry chef Rebekah Turshen from City House.
“We are so proud that the this year’s event surpassed its goal and raised over $282,000 for the kids of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This ensures that no family pays for anything at St. Jude—including treatment, travel, housing or food because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.” - Jordan Turri (Sr. Regional Development Representative for St. Jude)
Chef Andy Little provided asparagus salad with toasted hazelnuts and tarragon vinaigrette. I love me some good fresh asparagus and this dish delivered. It really set a great tone for a wonderful meal.
Chef Hal Holden-Bache served a Tennessee pasta and mushrooms with Nicoletto’s bucatini, Nashville-grown mushrooms,
Chef Deb Paquette presented us with grilled chicken thighs with black beans, kale, papaya tomato sauce, radish, cilantro, avocado, quinoa, poblano orange
Not to be outdone, Chef Trey Cioccia went with porchetta with white bean, fermented tomato ragu, and Kenny’s asiago cheese. It was perfectly crispy and the tomato ragu really complemented the dish.
And the pièces de résistance from Chef Rebeka Turshen was a lemon poppyseed pavlova with local strawberries. This was heaven on a plate, and a stunning way to complete a meal. So fresh and so absolutely yummy.
Then to close out the evening was some music by Drew Holcomb. I was humming his music all the way back to my house that night and throughout the next day. The music was very cathartic for my soul.
So many great and wonderful things came together for an amazing cause. I was blessed to be there and hope that I can do more for them next year.
Just because the event is over, doesn't mean that you still can't help out the kids at St. Jude. Please donate here.
Also check out my other blogs from this event. 2019 can be found here and 2018 can be found here.
