The growth in Southeast Arkansas’ taste for culinary arts may be exemplified in an annual fundraiser’s change in venue – and an added theme.
The Taste of Southeast Arkansas drew hundreds to the Pine Bluff Convention Center ballroom Thursday night, a new scene after many years at the Pine Bluff Country Club. The event was a fundraiser for the Pine Bluff Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Jefferson County Young Professionals Network and saw an estimated attendance of 275 to 300, according to organizer Jamal Gordon.
Gordon, who is active in both organizations, has been involved with the event for five years, while the Taste has been a yearly tradition for at least two decades.
“Not all recipes are just from Southeast Arkansas, but we try to reach other areas and try to broaden this not just to Southeast but all of Arkansas,” Gordon said. “Each chef has different styles, different flavors and things like that, so it’s our way of opening up as far as part of being part of Arkansas.”
Brandon Douglas, head chef at the Country Club, won the Best Chef award after presenting his garlic cheddar biscuit and slow-cooked beef brisket with a cilantro lime demi and apple and pear slaw. The upcoming fall inspired the entrée, Douglas said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“It was totally unexpected. I appreciate it. It was a fun event,” Douglas said. “I enjoyed working with the Chamber to help organize it. It’s just a good time overall. I really enjoyed it. We had a lot of great chefs here tonight. It wasn’t easy. Obviously, there was a lot of great food tonight.”
This year’s Taste took on a Western theme with visitors donning their best Western hats and boots in honor of the Blues song “Boots on the Ground”– the song that played over the public address system as Douglas was interviewed. (Much of the live music from the Rodney Block Collective, though, was jazz-oriented.)
W. Jinnings Burruss Jr., an assistant professor of food service and restaurant management at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, was still in his chef’s uniform trying out dishes including a plate of barbecue ribs and seasoned mac-and-cheese.
“I really liked the onion-glazed balsamic pork,” Burruss said. The dish proved a crowd-pleaser as Chef Payne Harding and his team ran out of the entrée, served with gouda grits and habanero picked peppers, in less than an hour.
