Get ready to feast at annual Community Culinary Showcase

I am so in love with the Charleston Convention Center & Coliseum right now.

Apple, grape and golden raisin Waldorf salad from Chef Justin Rieve

Not only is it a strikingly reimagined venue drawing top-notch conferences, events and concerts to our region, but it’s also shining a light on the local culinary scene as well. That, my friends, is right up my alley.

Over the past few years, I kept seeing promos for the facility’s “Community Culinary Showcase,” a series of occasional tasting dinners where folks from local food circles are brought in to enjoy a feast prepared by regional professional chefs and young chefs-in-training from Carver Career Center’s highly regarded (and nationally accredited) culinary program.

I was fortunate enough to attend the recent August event, where a handful of guests and I gathered in a cozy, nicely decorated “demonstration” dining room with picture windows overlooking the Convention Center’s shiny, large, state-of-the-art kitchen.

We got to spend the start of the evening sipping drinks and noshing on gorgeous charcuterie while watching chefs in the kitchen prepare the multi-course meal we were about to enjoy.

And what a meal it was!

Charcuterie from Convention Center chefs

Once we sat down to dine, a parade of young chefs served and described their dishes while we peppered them (see what I did there?) with questions about their culinary experience and this dish’s inspiration.

Carver student Samuel Reid presented a silky-smooth chilled potato and leek vichyssoise topped with crispy croutons and an ingenious soft-cooked egg, followed by classmate Justin Rieve’s fresh and crunchy Waldorf salad with lightly dressed matchstick apples, sliced grapes and plumped golden raisins topped with micro-greens.

Next up was “Chef Pete” from The Grill, who delivered a platter of favorites from that longtime West Side spot that included the restaurant’s fried green tomato BLT, pinto beans, navy beans and a deliciously moist and flavorful “three-ingredient” cornbread I could’ve eaten my weight in.

We ended the meal with a sweet double treat (a pillowy chocolate éclair and moist vanilla cake) from Cheri’s Sugar Shack, a popup that serves baked goods and the Convention Center’s award-winning pepperoni rolls a few days a week in the facility’s lobby.

Throughout the course of the evening, convention center staff explained that the culinary showcase’s purpose is two-fold.

One, as the name says, these events help shine a light on the local food scene by bringing in both experienced and up-and-coming chefs working side by side to share their talents with those who may not know them. As the convention center’s Hospitality General Manager, Todd Tinney, told me: “We really want to be a good partner in the community – a beacon that helps support and promote all of the wonderful things happening on the local culinary scene.”

Demonstration dining room overlooking kitchen

And two, the showcase also raises funds to help provide scholarships to the Carver students who participate.

Last year's event raised more than $7,000 to directly benefit some of those enrolled in Carver’s program, which instructor Mandy Gum said is so important for her students.

That’s where you come in.

These yearlong mini-showcases all lead up to next month’s big third-annual Community Culinary Showcase celebration from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 24 in the Elk River Atrium. There, the public can enjoy fantastic food and drinks while watching chefs from throughout the Kanawha Valley prepare some of their signature dishes for all to enjoy.

In short, you get to be a “foodie” for the night, all the while supporting an awesome cause. That’s a delicious win-win.

Fried green tomato BLT and beans from The Grill

The evening of Oct. 24 will begin at 5:30 p.m. with cocktails and conversations with local chefs and culinary entrepreneurs, along with a silent auction, live chef auction and public voting for “Charleston’s Top Chef of 2024.”

Once the food starts flowing, you’ll enjoy plates from:

Ristorante Abruzzi, Sumthin’ Good Soul Food, Lobster TrappN, The Grill, Sleepy Hollow Golf Course, Mohawk Cheesecake, Batter & Bliss Baking Company, Valley Cakes, Ellen’s Ice Cream and 9290 Catering, along with the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center and Carver Career Center.

IF YOU GO: Tickets for the Community Culinary Showcase at the Charleston Convention Center on Oct. 24 are $52 per person. They are on sale now at the coliseum box office or online at https://bit.ly/3MwnCtT. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3MpwSjs.

Guests take their seats in the Convention Center's dining room overlooking the kitchen

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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.