Seattle Wine and Food Experience Supports Big Table

Great news! The Seattle Wine and Food Experience selected Big Table this year for their 2012 featured charity.  The Giving Grapes Foundation that works with the Wine and Food Experience has a mission remarkably close to ours.  They asist local charities who provide financial assistance to service industry professionals who have to take time off work due to injury or illness.

We are delighted to partner with Giving Grapes and the Seattle Wine and Food Experience.  Kevin will be on site at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall from the moment the doors open (noon) until the time they close (5pm) on Sunday, February 26.

Your purchase of a ticket helps support Big Table and gets you in the door for great wine and food.

Twenty local chefs will be serving up gourmet tapas plates.  Audi is hosting a oyster bar and bubbly lounge. There will be wines from around the world and a special focus on Oregon wines as well as a local and national beer and cider exhibit.  Northwest distillers will be offering sips of their wares.

Stella Artois and Viking will host a chef demo stage with Chef Thierry Rautureau.  Fonté Coffee Lounge will be open for small batch crafted coffee shots, and local venders will be sampling and selling artisan food.  Add in live music and you have a SEATTLE WINE AND FOOD EXPERIENCE.

Ticket are $49.

Make sure to stop by the Big Table "table" to say hi.

Mary's Christmas Story

On Christmas Eve this year we wanted to share a note we received from Mary Sloan:

Mary At November's Table"I had never heard of Big Table until I was fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of their generosity.  Last year, just before Christmas, I was having trouble with my car and it looked like I needed a new engine. Bad timing!

I nursed it through the holidays and then it was time to fix it. My initial estimates were between $1500 and $2500 to rebuild the engine of my 14-year-old car and we were in the slowest month of the year in the restaurant industry; things were not looking good. I knew God would take care of me, He always does; I just didn't know how!

Some friends of mine, Rhonda Rey and Lallah Marston, knew of my situation and contacted Big Table to see if they could help, and soon Mitch Silver was involved as well. One night at work I got a call from Jill Lemon telling me that Big Table wanted to help get my car fixed! I was completely surprised and just amazed that these good people would so generously give of their time and talents. Mitch contributed financially and also offered up his ace mechanic, Jay, who worked long and hard to find the problem and get my car running just like new. Many others, some of whom I don't know, also contributed, so my out-of-pocket expense was minimal. I felt so humbled and blessed by this whole experience; it really is hard for me to describe how much this has meant to me. What Kevin and Jill and those who are committed to BigTable are doing is awesome and so beneficial to many who are struggling in this industry.
 
Since my initial Big Table encounter I have had the opportunity to serve at one of their amazing dinners, participate in the Big Table auction last May and enjoyed being served as a guest at the November Big Table dinner, compliments of Fleur de Sel and Madeliene's. What a feast!

Big Table exemplifies community in giving and sharing and offers so much, whether you are giving or receiving. I am thankful for what Big Table has meant to me, and that I am able at this time to donate toward another person's needs. I know from first-hand experience that Big Table is a life changer! Thank you."

Le Grand November Dinner Menu

Here was the menu for our November 7th 2nd anniversary dinner for Big Table thanks to Chef Laurent Zirotti of Fleur de Sel and Chef Joshua Martin of Madeleine’s.

Hors d’oeuvres
Rillette of pork
Beef tartar
Petites crudités

First Course
Smoked salmon carpaccio with celery rémoulade,
basil oil and grains of paradise

Second Course
Lobster crêpe with a saffron Chardonnay beurre blanc

Entremet
Vichyssoise

Third Course
Stuffed quail with a white truffle cream sauce

Fourth Course
Pork cheek “á la Bourguignonne”, Yukon gold tart

Cheese Course
Normandy Camembert “Le Pommier”, mixed greens

Sixth Course
Chocolate caramel  á la fleur de sel
coffee Parisian macaron
choux Chantilly
Cointreau cake brulé

Table Art

This fall the students from a Whitworth University class on art and community worked with Big Table to design and build three special art tables.  The one above sets a wooden relief of our logo under glass.

The second table is modeled after a section of the actual BIG table but adds an interactive art feature to the center of the table: an inset that holds glass tiles.  Each tile represents an image related to Big Table and are designed to be rearranged by guests like a puzzle.

The third table uses a wine barrel (thanks Odom) as a base for a wrought iron post with arms that each end in an LED light and a wine bottle.

Thanks to Professor Katie Creyts and the all the students who served at our September dinner and then translated their experience into art.

Big Table Heads To Green Bluff

We filled the table last night inside the barn at Cherry Hill Orchard up on Green Bluff.  Chefs Jonathan Sweatt and Ryan Stoy from Downriver Grill and Juli Norris from Simply Gourmet served up a memorable seven course feast that highlighted produce and fruit picked with a mile of the table: peaches, apples, greens, herbs, sweet corn, eggs. 

Thanks to Ronda and Jeff Bosma of Cherry Hill for hosting Big Table #13.