Meals from the Masters

The Meals on Wheels fund-raising brunch at Bank of America this morning was an amazing culinary experience. (And it should be for $175 a ticket!)

Actor Kevin Dobson - or as someone called him "the guy from Knots Landing" or "Kojak", depending on your age - who was appearing in the DuPont Theatre production of "Twelve Angry Men" was sipping a drink and chatting in one room near the atrium. His face looked so familiar to me, but I kept thinking he was a liquor salesman I once met. It reminds me of when I once started talking to a guy at a gala I was attending in New York. I thought he went to UD with me - turns out he was once a cast member on "The Real World."

Every year, it seems, the chefs turn the volume even higher than the year before. To evoke a "Spinal Tap" moment, this year's volume was cranked to 11.

One of my favorite dishes - just for the sheer audacity and taste sensation - was a crazy combination from Joseba Jimenez de Jimenez. The Seattle chef created a bombom of foie graswith crispy rice, licorice and Nantes carrot cotton. Basically this was a nub of creamy, foie gras on a stick, coated in something that tasted like Pop Rocks and then with a swirl of cotton candy and a dusting of dried carrots.

Really, REALLY weird and wonderful.

You put the whole bite in your mouth and it was like firecrackers to the palate. Too exotic or just flat out weird for you? Well, Joseba had a line of people waiting to try it.....I want another one now.

The Washington chefs had a very strong showing - Tom Douglas's crab foo young was another crowd favorite - mine too! He flew the Dungeness crab in from Seattle. (NJ features reporter Shruti Mathur did an incredible job helping flip crab cakes - atta girl, Shruti! - cooking sure is some hot and hard work and you made us proud.) - and I adored the Wagyu beef tongue tonnato from Holly Smith from Cafe Juanita in Kirkland, Wash. It's the one cut that can taste you back but Smith made it melt-in- your-mouth tender. Pooh-pooh to you if you weren't brave enough to try it.

Dan Butler's folks offered a truly luscious wild boar tortelloni, the Hotel du Pont's Tom Hannum and Pat D'Amico were on their game as usual with a braised veal cheeks Milanaise with truffled risotto , micro arugula and drizzles of balsamic and the homemade lamb salami from the guys from Osteria/Vetri (two of my favorite Philly eats places) was another highlight.

I chatted for a few minutes with Tre Wilcox, former "Top Chef" contestant. He made a beautiful and delicious wild king salmon with a smooth and creamy fennel puree, along with ramps and morels.

Wilcox, who is now a private chef and wore a black T-shirt that said "Chef" just in case you didn't know who he was, says he wanted to make a very seasonal dish - hence the ramps and morels.

He also said he wanted a dish that would "appeal to the ladies." Really. Those were his words. Then he said something about how some of the dishes from the other chefs may not have been keeping in line with a spring theme like he was doing.

For a moment, I felt like saying, "Um, Tre, you're not on 'Top Chef' any longer. This isn't a contest. You don't have to pack your knives and go."