CHEF STEVEN GREENE OF DEVEREAUX’S INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN 2007 FOOD & WINE CELEBRATION FOR VEGGIE U

Steven Greene, Executive Chef and Partner of Devereaux’s Restaurant, downtown Greenville, SC, was one of the 30 chefs invited nationwide to participate in The Culinary Vegetable Institute’s fifth annual Food & Wine Celebration held July 21^st. The Culinary Institute is a culinary education center located in Milan, Ohio and is surrounded by The Chef’s Garden, a working farm. 

The event benefits “Veggie U” a non-profit program that facilitates educational programs and teams schoolteachers, parents, nutritionists, and doctors to teach fourth graders across the nation the importance of making healthy eating choices. The program is currently operating in 21 states.

The sold out event featured food and wine demos from renowned culinary chefs, musical entertainment, and an auction.  This year’s special guest chefs were Chef Walter Scheib, III, former White House Chef and author of the book THE AMERICAN CHEF; Jeff Henderson, award winning chef and public speaker; and Lucinda Scala Quinn, editorial director of Martha Stewart's Living and host of Everyday Food Show on PBS.

As part of the Grand Food and Wine Tasting event, Chef Greene prepared a menu of Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with cumin scented lump crab, lemon oil, and celery salad and Sashimi of Hawaiian Tuna, with carpaccio of pineapple and vanilla - white soy emulsion.

“It was great to be included in this year’s event”, says Steven Greene, Executive Chef and Partner, Devereaux’s. “Not only to see what other chefs are doing with vegetables, but to have the opportunity to see the operations of the farm at The Chef’s Garden. I’ve been buying product from them for years it’s was fantastic to see the operation in person.”

“They put as much love into growing the vegetables as we chefs do in cooking them,” adds Greene. “Everything is organically-grown, they are one of premier providers of fine vegetables and gourmet micro-greens – many of the best chefs in the world use their products.”

The mission of The Culinary Institute is to “provide the world’s most innovative chefs with a place to share knowledge, experiment and discover techniques for growing and preparing the most flavorful varieties of vegetables in the world. The collaboration between the garden farmer and the chef and between the old and the new is the foundation of the Culinary Vegetable Institute (CVI). The CVI Kitchen GardenTM team searches for the best techniques to produce the most flavorful vegetable varieties in organic fashion. The CVI is a learning center for the most progressive chefs to pass their vegetable knowledge and techniques to the rising stars of tomorrow.” To learn more about CVI and Veggie U, visit www.veggieu.org.