Thursday, December 5, 2013

Boca Pays Tribute to Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel with 20th Anniversary Celebration

On Friday, November 29, David Falk, the restaurateur and chef behind Boca Restaurant Group and Annette Pfund-De Cavel, organized a surprise dinner to celebrate the culinary lineage of Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel and his 20 years of service to Cincinnati's dining scene.

Falk assembled Jean-Robert’s former chefs, who are now accomplished culinarians in their own rights, to each create a dish for the seven-course menu honoring the patriarch of the former Maisonette restaurants. Highlights of the menu include Perona Farms Smoked Salmon with onion herb crème fraiche and caviar (David Falk); Crispy Sweetbreads with boulangere potatoes, snow peas, mushrooms and sherry sauce (Nate Appleman, Iron Chef, 2009 James Beard Foundation Award Rising Star Chef winner, and Food & Wine 2009 Best New Chef); and Roasted Domestic Venison with huckleberries, sweet potato puree, braised cabbage and sauce poivrade (Jeremy Lieb, Executive Chef of Boca). Additional chefs included Bridget Eagan Lieb, David Cook, Jim Cornwell, and Karen Crawford.

"It was an absolute honor to host such an amazing celebration and to show our appreciation for Chef Jean-Robert,” says David Falk. “As chefs, we wanted to bring to life his impact on the city and showcase how his mentorship shaped our own culinary styles and service standards today. To do the event at Boca, the former Maisonette space where we all studied under chef, brings things full circle for me. The dinner showcases how he has paved the way for generations of amazing chefs to come out of Cincinnati.”

The evening began with Jean-Robert’s closest friends and Cincinnati supporters at Boca who surprised him as he entered the restaurant. After the emotional arrival, the evening continued with Maisonette legends sharing memories of the iconic space as well as Mayor John Cranley proclaiming November 29 as Jean-Robert de Cavel Day in Cincinnati. Additional highlights included commemorative Jean-Robert bobble heads to benefit the The de Cavel Family SIDS Foundation, Cincinnati Symphony Conductor Louis Langrée presented symphony trumpeter Doug Lindsay to play the French National Anthem and a post-party in Sotto.

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