Authored by Sue Geary, Vice Chargée de Presse
In early celebration of Bastille Day, the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Bailliage de Salt Lake City, Utah held its Induction Ceremony on Sunday, July 12. The ceremony installed a new Board of Directors with prominent wine educator, Sheral Schowe, elevated to the position of Bailli. Bailli Provincial, Phil Kress, officiated from his home in Irvine, California for the Far West Region’s first induction via video conferencing.
Sheral Schowe, FWS, SWS, Bailli
This was our inaugural dinner event as talking heads and we can thank Vice Charge’ de Missions, Cessily Johnson, for handling the details of production. Cole Johnson, Vice Charge’ de Media Sociaux--who has been at work establishing our website--took photos during the event. In the process, we discovered our…
Top 5 Reasons to Love Gathering by Video Conferencing:
Reason #5: You don’t have to secure a designated driver for a ride home after the event
All of our driving was in advance of the event for the purpose of collecting our dinner. Our elegant meal was provided by The Blind Dog Restaurant and Raw Bar in Park City, whose printed menu carries the motto, It is imperative that you maintain a sense of humor. That advice was quite fitting to the challenges of the day. The process of getting our meals served from a restaurant 32 miles away from Salt Lake City and to the homes of our eight new board inductees might be best described as a relay.
Vice Conseiller Culinaire, Jodie Rogers, picked up the individually-packaged meals from the restaurant in Park City. Sammie Doyle, Vice Conseiller Gastronomique, grabbed the baton to take the food to her home in Salt Lake City then set up her garage as distribution central. Bailli Sheral Schowe selected and purchased the two beautiful French wines. Finally, each member collected their meal, wines, ribbon, and scroll.
Reason #4: Your pets can attend the event without having to certify as support animals
Speaking of pets, The Blind Dog was established in 1998 by Executive Chef, Penn Kinsey and her husband, Derrick, and named as an homage to their black lab, Rizza, who was blinded in an accident. Photographs of dogs are a prominent part of the restaurant’s décor. The award-winning restaurant--featuring fresh seafood, sushi, raw bar, and premium steak—is one of Park City’s premier venues for fine dining. Given the complexities of the logistics for our event, Chef Kinsey wisely chose a cold menu.
Reason #3: You need only comb or style the front of your hair
The neatly-combed Kasey Dubler, Vice Echanson, introduced each of the wines and shared some of the winemaker’s history. The Piper-Heidsieck NV Champagne provided the perfect toast for each of our inductions and paired beautifully with the gazpacho and the salad. The Stephane Aviron Julienas 2017 carried us in style into the main course of ahi tuna.
Reason #2: You can change your clothes during the event
We may not have thought of this had not Vice Chancelier-Argentier, Richard Pater, discarded his suit and tie to enjoy dessert in a Hawaiian print shirt. We do advise that this maneuver be done off-camera.
Reason #1: You need dress only from the waist up!
It surely would have been our preference to have gathered--fully-dressed and in-person--to enjoy the unique ambience of The Blind Dog. Yet, we respect the need to adapt to the challenges imposed by a growing pandemic, and as a new board we are eager to design events that will keep our Bailliage active and engaged by remote means for as long as necessary. We admire and salute the ingenuity and perseverance of the culinary industry and the many winemakers whose contributions, in good times and bad, are the raison d’etre of the Chaîne des Rotisseurs.
