from left to right: Chef Champe Speidel of Persimmon, Chef Walter Potenza of Walter's Ristorante d'Italia, Chef Jose Duarte of Taranta Restaurant, Chef David Reynoso of Al Forno, Chef Andrew Shotts of Garrison Confections and Chef Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia

Monday evening, March 1, was a Share Our Strength A Tasteful Pursuit dinner in Providence, hosted at Al Forno. Share Our Strength has a plan to end childhood hunger by 2015. It’s a great organization with a clearly wonderful goal. Please visit their web site to learn more and to donate. There were too many delicious things served over the course of the evening to list them all. A few are pictured here. I wish I had more of Chef Tony Mantuano‘s Hors D’ouevres. The Mini Sopresada Puffs and Duck Pinchos with Harissa and Sumac were perfect bites full of flavor. Chef Walter Potenza‘s Pasticcio con “Stracotto” di Vitello e Fonduta was deliciously heavy—a perfect mix of veal, pasta & cheese.

If I had to pick a single item that I loved it would be Chef Champe Speidel‘s Braised Lamb Rillette. His entire dish was great, but that Rillette was perfect. I definitely would have devoured more of that. I also want to mention the wines selected by M.S. Walker‘s Michael Lester. Lester often makes great selections, but it’s rare that two wines in one evening really stand out for me. These were the Produttori del Barbaresco Torre 2005 and the Jaboulet Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge “Les Cedres” 2005.