The Chef Dana Experience with Picasso Playdates - A flavorful tour around the World
Earlier this month, celebrity chef Dana Herbert hosted another one of his unique dinners. It was a Paint & Chew event with Tiffany Bradford of Picasso Playdates and the African American Travelers. This dinner featured seven course. Each course was inspired by one of the seven continents of the world. And yes, this dinner featured one of his signature desserts. What's a Chef Dana Experience without dessert!
It was time for the event to begin. Ms. Bradford proceeded to direct the room with the first step towards painting their masterpiece. As we began to paint, the first course was served. Chef Dana made an Asian pasta that was inspired by the continent of Asia. The pasta noodles was prepared perfectly. Some ingredients used were peppers, sesame and green onions. Chef Dana nailed creating the flavor of this course. I had a friend that came with me and she actually ate seconds, it was soooo good! After the first course, we cleansed our palates with a refreshing lemon basil spritzer. This is one of Chef Dana's signature beverages that I enjoy so much. It’s a little sweet, but light and refreshing. Now it was time to move onto the second course. We were served ham and split pea soup inspired by the continent of Australia. I learned that this soup is actually common in Australia. It's also common in a handful of other places and each place has their own spin on it . I just recently started eating split pea soup. It's definitely way better with ham in my opinion. But the way this soup was prepared, I actually thought that it would've tasted just fine without the ham. That's how good it was! The ham was a yummy bonus. Next, it was time for the third course which was inspired by Africa. Chef Dana served a very delicious and moist chicken breast with rice jollof. O....M...G....This one was the show stopper of the evening! The rice was full of so much flavor and it also had a little spiciness to it. If you don't know anything about jollof rice, look it up and find a place that serves it! It's all that!
The fourth course was next and it was inspired by Antartica. We were served a mango and raspberry sorbet. How is this inspired by Antartica you may ask? It's plain and simple, it's cold! It was the perfect time to enjoy this after three savory courses. After that was done, we moved on to the fifth course. It was inspired by the continent of North America. Chef Dana stated that this course was the one he felt most comfortable preparing because he could really play around with flavors. He served a coco spiced rubbed pork tenderloin. It was topped with apples and cumin seeds. I think the pork and apples pair well together. Chef Dana did a great job with the rub, very creative. The sixth course was next. By now I was really running out of room in my stomach. If I wanted to save room for dessert, I knew I couldn't fully indulge the next course. The next dish was inspired by South America. We were served Peruvian beef. This was tender and it really filled me up. Now, it was time for the 7th and final course. We ended our culinary world tour with dessert inspired by Europe. We were served a butterscotch Bundino with a salted chocolate caramel sauce. Goodness, this dessert was incredible. The texture was a little similar to a custard or pudding. What a beautiful ending to such a fun dinner!
I had a really fun experience and I was very proud of my painting. I thought this was a very creative dinner event. The food was delicious, filing and it kept us wanting more. My two favorite courses were the jollof rice and dessert. If you still haven't been to a Chef Dana Experience event, you have to keep your eyes open for the next one! Follow him on instagram at DessertsByDana to stay up to date for any events. For more info, visit his website at www.DessertsByDana.com . If you want to book Tiffany Bradford of Picasso Playdates for an event, check her out on Instagram at ArtByTiffany_Picassoplaydates , I promise you, she is SO FUN! She knows how to keep a party going! Thank you Chef Dana and Tiffany for a wonderful event. Ya'll really did a excellent job!
