Serve & Protect Gala
The sixth annual Serve & Protect Gala is Thursday, Sept. 15. To learn more or reserve your seat, visit tnaqua.org/serve-and-protect.
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Before dinner is served at this year’s gala, famed chefs Virginia Willis and Tammy Cook will host a demonstration, with an appearance by New York Times food and culture writer Kim Severson.Willis, a returning host for the evening, comes back with a newly awarded 2016 James Beard Award for her most recent cookbook, Lighten Up, Y’all: Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy and Wholesome. She is working on a new PBS show called Secrets of the Southern Table: A Food Lover’s Tour of the Global South, which will air on PBS stations nationwide in 2018.Willis, dubbed one of the “Seven Food Writers You Need to Know” by the Chicago Tribune, is also a contributing editor for Southern Living. Her column “Cooking with Virginia” will debut this fall.Cook has been part of the aquarium’s Serve & Protect sustainable seafood program since it was launched in 2010, both producing and starring in the event each year. For nearly a decade, Cook served as culinary director for the Food Network show Good Eats.Her many talents have paved the way for her to work on award-winning cookbooks and videos while utilizing her technical culinary art skills in the roles of food stylist and recipe tester/developer.The evening begins with a cocktail reception and a gourmet sampler of sustainable seafood appetizers. Then, Willis and Cook, longtime friends, will share the spotlight during an entertaining, live cooking show. Afterward, guests will be treated to an elegant seafood dinner prepared by one Chattanooga’s own top chefs, while dessert offers the opportunity to mingle with the visiting celebrity chefs.
Think back to the last time you ate seafood. Do you know where it came from?
No, not which grocery store or restaurant. Do you know where the fish was caught?
As the Tennessee Aquarium gears up for its sixth annual Serve and Protect Gala to raise awareness about sustainable seafood practices, that is the question advocates want consumers to know the answer to – or simply think to ask.