Hunter-Gatherer Dinner and Podcast
On March 23, HCCC hosted a dinner inside the Hunter-Gatherer dining room vignette. This dinner brought together a small group of local food producers, artists, and museum professionals to discuss the ties between craft and the locavore movement. Seated around Clark Kellogg’s white oak picnic table, attendees shared a seven course locally-sourced menu prepared by Chef Casey Guhl of Greenhouse Catering Company.
Each course served on the artisan wares in this dining room allowed guests to reflect on the relationships among the furniture, vessels, utensils, and food placed in front of them.
Dinner Menu
Starters: Vermont beehive cheddar cheese with rind wrapped in tea leaves, Blue cheese from Auvergne, France, Waco Cheese Company’s raw cow’s milk brie, green olives, and jam
Vegetables: Veggie King Farm’s heirloom tomato bruschetta; Veggie King Farm’s broccoli, steamed with garlic in local goat stock from Harrison Hog Farm
Entrées: Pickled Swiss chard and arugula with Shrimp Boat Projects’ gulf shrimp; Curried Harrison Hog Farm’s Yorkshire Hampshire pork on buckwheat; The Grateful Bread Brisket with local jalapeños and onion
Dessert: Jicama, lightly cooked in coconut milk and brown sugar
Joining Chef Guhl and HCCC staff, the list of attendees included six other guests who all contributed unique perspectives on the handmade and locavore movements as well as our consumer responsibility to sustainable practice.
Guest List
Henri Gadbois, Faux Food Artist and MFAH Bayou Bend Docent
Robbie Lobell, Potter and Cook on Clay Co-founder
Zach Moser, Shrimp Boat Projects Founder
Al Marcus, The Grateful Bread Founder
Rev. David and Melissa Hill, Restoration Community Church Garden
HCCC Staff: Executive Director Julie Farr, Curator Elizabeth Kozlowski, Curatorial Fellow Kathryn Hall
The individual wares of the Hunter-Gatherer theme inspired Guhl’s menu, setting the stage for lively conversation. Henri Gadbois, who made the exhibition’s faux food, shared his historical knowledge of food preparation while Robbie Lobell, Cook on Clay co-founder and potter discussed the interplay between her pots and slow food practice. Sourcing the shrimp for the event, artist and Shrimp Boat Projects founder Zach Moser discussed the challenges that the local shrimping community faces in Galveston, TX. Providing the brisket, The Grateful Bread owner, Al Marcus interjected his opinion of the locavore movement based on his experience as a farmer’s market vendor. Restoration Community Church Senior Pastor David Hill and his wife Melissa discussed their community garden in the third ward as well as the challenges of making organic food affordable for underserved populations.
Listen to the conversation here by clicking on the following links:
Part I (Duration: 00:53:43)
Part II (Duration: 01:24:34)
Support for this podcast was made possible by the Texas Commission on the Arts' Arts Respond grant. Photography by Photos by Rovo. Audio by Brian Albritton.