Let Them Eat Art!

Thursday, April 4, 2013
6-9pm
at the CAL Gallery

Love food? Love art? Come and see how they pair up in the hands of the experts. We’re throwing a fun, extra evening during the Edible show, which is also a wee fundraiser for CAL. Yay!

We’ve invited some of our best local chefs to choose a work in the show as an inspiration for a platter of tapas-style food. At Let Them Eat Art! you can see the art, meet the chefs, and MOST importantly, see what inspiration tastes like. Yum!

Tickets cost $35 per person. Tickets are limited to 100, so reserve your space early! RSVP by Friday, March 29, 2013.

Buy tickets via PayPal >>

Ticket payments, or donations in lieu of attendance, can be made by check.

Please make checks payable to Columbia Art League and send to:
CAL
207 South 9th Street
Columbia MO 65201

Credit card payments can also be made over the phone: 573-443-8838.

Let Them Eat Art Featured Chefs

Chef Jeremy Bowles
Room 38 Restaurant & Lounge

Jeremy Bowles, born and raised in Rolla, MO, graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor's degree in hotel and restaurant management in 2004.

From there Jeremy went on to cook for a variety of restaurants around town, learning under each chef and taking his progress with him. As kitchen manager of the former Forge & Vine, Jeremy decided he was ready to write his own menu, and, in August of 2008, opened Room 38 Restaurant & Lounge. Since then Jeremy has wowed Columbia with an eclectic menu offering a wide variety of creative plates for any palate.

Chef Michelle Carlin
The University Club of MU

Michelle Carlin was born and raised in St. Louis, MO. She is a recent graduate of The Art Institutes International-Kansas City, where she received her degree in Baking and Pastry Arts.

While still in high school, Michelle worked for Swish Catering. Immediately after high school, she attended The Art Institutes International in Overland Park, KS. Halfway through her time there, she moved to Columbia, MO and started working for The University Club. She commuted weekly to school and graduated with honors.

Michelle has been with The University Club for a year.

Chef Mike Odette
Sycamore

A lifelong Midwesterner and longtime Missourian, Chef Mike Odette fell among restaurant people after dropping out of college, where he had been studying Chemical Engineering.

He began work in a garde manger position at Café Europa under the tutelage of the late Bob Rappold. At Europa and Europa bakery, Chef Odette learned his way around a restaurant kitchen and discovered the pleasures of the convivial table. “For a small-town Missouri boy, in those days before the internet, Food TV and celebrity chef culture, all I had were cookbooks – James Beard, Julia Child, Barbara Kafka – those were my teachers.”

Later, during a nine-year tenure at Columbia’s celebrated Trattoria Strada Nova, he worked his way up from line cook to head chef, helping that restaurant become a mid-Missouri favorite throughout the 1990s.

Following a five-year stint as cook and counterman of the legendary and historic Booches pool hall, chef Odette, with partners Amy Barrett and Sanford and Jill Speake, opened Sycamore in 2005.

Sycamore, which honors the farmers, foragers and ranchers of Missouri with simple and seasonal rustic fare, quickly drew attention and great reviews as a champion of market-driven “Missouri bistro” cuisine.

In 2009, Chef Odette was honored as a semi-finalist for the James Beard Awards’ “Best Chef, Midwest.”

Chef Trey Quinlan
Trey Bistro

Trey Quinlan was born and raised in Columbia, MO. In 2003, he was the first student at the Columbia Area Career Center to place first in the Skills USA Culinary Arts State Competition. From there he went on to receive his associate's and bachelor's degrees at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.

He has worked in kitchens all over New England as well as the Republic of Ireland. He helped open Sycamore in 2005, and bleu Restaurant and Wine Bar in 2008. While at bleu, Trey took over as executive chef where he was able to help shape the restaurant into the success that it is today. He was nominated for Inside Columbia Magazine that year and has been nominated every year since.

In May 2010, Trey moved on to open Red & Moe where he focused on local sustainable cuisine. He was awarded 2nd place in the Mid-Missouri Taste of Elegance in 2010 and 3rd place in 2011.

When Red and Moe closed in March 2012, Trey decided the timing was right to develop his own twist on the Italian bistro. With help from his wife Jessica Quinlan, they opened a new restaurant on North 9th Street at the former site of Trattoria Strada Nova and Red and Moe.

Trey Bistro features an eclectic variety of options within each seasonal menu. Seasonal selections feature local and/or organic ingredients versatile for all appetites including vegetarian, vegan and gluten free alternatives. In addition to Trey’s amazing cuisine preparation and execution, is the unique bar. Open after the kitchen closes, the bar is complete with craft beer, artisanal spirits, hand-made syrups and fresh squeezed juices. Whether you order the usual drink or try a daring new concoction, Trey has something to offer every individual.

Trey’s casual yet refined atmosphere is extended to the public at relatively inexpensive prices. Join Trey, his wife Jessey, and son Landon, as well as, their professional staff for brunch, lunch, dinner, dessert or late night drinks!

Advanced Culinary Arts Student Dahnya Rogers
Columbia Area Career Center

Dahnya is a senior at Rock Bridge High School and is currently enrolled in in Baking and Pastry as well as Culinary Arts Independent Study at the Columbia Area Career Center. She has had a passion for cooking since she began helping her parents around the age of 3. Dahnya has taken cooking classes all over the world and loves learning about all aspects of cuisine. She and her Mother own their own catering company: Party Treats and Sweets LLC. She will be attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N,Y in the fall.

The Culinary Arts Program helps potential chefs develop and expand their skills which are necessary to become certified with the American Culinary Federation as a Certified Culinarian. The program explores both basic and advanced techniques, as well as the study of regional and international cuisines while applying them to an actual production setting. The class runs a buffet and restaurant periodically throughout the year. Career choices include restaurant manager, pastry culinarian, certified working pastry chef, certified sous chef, certified executive chef, and certified culinarian.

Chef Joshua Smith
Les Bourgeois Winery & Bistro

Chef Joshua Smith, originally from St. Joseph, MO, started cooking professionally while in college in Louisiana. After graduating, he decided to further his education by enrolling in culinary school in New Orleans. While he credits the Midwestern/Germanic home cooking of his father and grandmother for first piquing his epicurean interests, it was the simple, respectful nature of rustic Italian cuisine that he discovered while working as a sous-chef at a restaurant in Kansas that turned his passion into an obsession.

Constantly striving to feed his appetite for knowledge, Smith seized the opportunity to live and learn in Italy for a summer. After returning, Chef Joshua moved back to New Orleans and learned about Spanish and various Latin American cuisines while working as Chef de Cuisine at RioMar.

Under the guidance of his mentor, Adolfo Garcia, Smith deepened his culinary knowledge and learned how to efficiently run a kitchen. After jointly opening their own restaurant, Mano, in 2010 they earned semi-finalist nominations for “Rising Star Chef” and “Best New Restaurant” from the James Beard Foundation.

Wanting to return to his native Missouri, Chef Smith moved to Columbia where he spent a year working at Sycamore.

In line with his farm-to-table approach to cuisine, Chef Smith believes it is vital to have an understanding of tradition culinary skills including a respect for the soil, water, plants and animals that provide our nutrition, and an unwavering commitment to sourcing the highest quality ingredients both seasonally and sustainably.

“Through these principals,” says Smith, “the small farmers, artisan cheese makers, charcutiers, winemakers, and chefs around the state are beginning to truly showcase Missouri’s unique terrior. I think it’s an exciting time to be involved in the Slow Food movement all across the country, but I’m even more excited to be a part of what’s going on with it here in my home state and I’m elated to be a part of Les Bourgeois’ plans for the future."

Chef Mark Sulltrop
44 Stone Public House

Mark Sulltrop has provided Mid-Missouri with quality-based, innovative, traditional, and contemporary American Cuisine for over the past twenty years.

His culinary approach draws heavily from his diverse experience, and by consistently practicing time-honored culinary techniques. Mark has a wide variety of distinct experiences which affords him the knowledge of the particular tastes of the region and an intimacy with its local ingredients. He has worked at a pizza place, sports bars, hotels, independent full-service restaurants, a private club, a winery and a bakery & café while executing various food service operations & catered events. The diversity of recipes, ingredients, techniques and people he has encountered fortify his ability to produce great dishes efficiently and consistently.

Mark is the Executive Chef and co-owner of 44 Stone Public House, where he leads the culinary team with an emphasis on positive attitude, good culinary principles, quality-driven food production and creative collaboration. Mark’s extensive experience in the food service industry has afforded him the opportunity at 44 Stone to not only create unique dishes but to execute a complete restaurant experience with his direction and leadership in mind.

Chef Tyana Washington
Sweet Ethics

Tyana Washington is a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia studying biology. Tyana has a keen interest in good food, the food supply channels, and the politics of food.

Tyana is currently the president of the UNICEF program on campus and active in many groups.

Chef Jina Yoo
Jina Yoo's Asian Bistro

Prior to opening Jina Yoo's Asian Bistro, Jina Yoo, a very talented and classically trained pianist, had no restaurant experience, no culinary training, no business experience, and a communication challenge because English is not her native language. In spite of these daunting odds, she was named one of the “2012 Rising Stars of Innovation and Entrepreneurship” by the Small Business & Technology Development Center. Master Chef Korea had over 5,000 applicants to be on their reality cooking show, and Jina was selected to travel to Korea to compete with the top 100. Jina was also featured in a 2012 Small Business Administration news-letter as a success story, and she received honorable mention for the Columbia Home magazine’s “Hardest Working Women” award. In addition to working long hours at the restaurant, Jina also teaches sushi classes for the Columbia Area Career Center.