Allison Negron, Giada Chiarello, Chef Leonardo Maurelli III, Willie Nelson, John wood, Daniel Tackett.
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by: Sonya Balaam
The Chefs’ Pot Luck was part of The Luck Reunion Festival. The festival showcased more than 35 acts on three stages, but the night the before the festival on March 17 was the Pot Luck, an event that brought together celebrity chefs preparing a family-style Texas meal. The proceeds from Pot Luck supported Wholesome Wave, a non-profit that has as one of its initiatives to make healthy food options more accessible to low-income families. In addition to Nischan, the other celebrity chefs were Chef Dean Fearing, Chef Scott Conant, Chef Michael Chiarello and Chef John Mitchell.
“It’s a pretty big honor to have a chef like Michel Nischan, who’s a highly decorated, three-time James Beard Award winning chef to ask you to come assistant him and be his executive sous chef on the road while he does events,” Maurelli said. “…Very humbling.”
One of the dishes Maurelli helped prepare was a vegan chili called “Willie’s Chili.” Nelson’s wife is vegan, and Maurelli said they wanted to make sure there was a dish she could eat and enjoy. Maurelli also helped prepared the Use a Spoon Chopped Salad, which was to serve with chili. Chefs’ Pot Luck brought 200 guests to Nelson’s ranch.
This was Maurell’s third event with Nischan. The first was the 2015 Hospitality Gala at The Hotel at Auburn University.
“It (was) a super fun trip…I had a great time with all the chefs. I learned a lot. I got to talk about Auburn and the hotel and the university and what we do here. It’s really a great opportunity to be able to spread the gospel of our little town