This weekend, join the sixth annual Artisan Cup & Fork event on Saturday, September 11th at Bluestem Hall in Urbana. I spoke with organizer Dana Vollmer from The Land Connection about this year’s event and what you can expect.
Smile Politely: Can you talk about this year’s event?
Dana Vollmer: The Artisan Cup & Fork is a celebration of local food, where CU-area chefs team up with Central Illinois farmers to produce the most delicious locally-sourced dish they can dream up. Participants will get to try dishes from each of our four chef teams, as well as a decadent dessert from a local baker, and vote on their favorite.
Due to the worsening COVID metrics in our area, The Land Connection has decided to shift this year’s event primarily curbside. This will work the same as any other take-out order: Guests will select a pick-up time between 4 and 8 p.m., drive over to Bluestem Hall, and leave with a bag of delicious food to enjoy from the comfort of their home. In-person VIP tickets are limited to 50 people — and selling fast.
SP: What does the curbside ticket include? The VIP ticket?
Vollmer: Curbside tickets ($65) include four tasting portions (one from each chef team) along with dessert, packaged to-go. No beverages are included in curbside tickets.
In-person VIP tickets ($125) include all of the food listed above plus a pre-dinner honey tasting led by Urbana-based Two Million Blooms, accompanied by honey-themed specialty cocktails and appetizers from Hendrick House and the Hendrick House Farm. VIPs will also receive four drink tickets to use on beer or mead from 25 O’Clock Brewing, Artesia Brewing, and Maplewood Brewery & Distillery as well as speciality cocktails and mocktails from Hendrick House. At the end of the night, they’ll leave with a “Local Makers Bag” filled with goods from Champaign-Urbana artisans and small businesses.
SP: How long do guests have before ticket sales close for the event?
Vollmer: Ticket sales close on Thursday, September 9th at 11:59 p.m. At that point, we will have to provide the chefs with a final attendee count. Additional guests may be able to be accommodated! If you miss the deadline, please email [email protected].
SP: For in person guests, what precautions and requirements are there for the event?
Vollmer: Masking will be required for all in-person guests whenever they are not seated and actively eating or drinking, in compliance with state and local public health guidance. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours of the event are highly encouraged. Those who show documentation will be entered into a special raffle drawing.
Outdoor seating may be available on the patio of Bluestem Hall; however, this is weather dependent. Rain or high winds may require all guests to stay indoors. Some form of a seating chart will be in place, and guests will be spread in small groups among several tables.
SP: What is on the menu for the event?
Vollmer: Get ready for some stomach gurgles.
Team 1: Leah Bodine of Blue Dragonfly Catering is partnering with Triple S Farm, Sola Gratia Farm, and Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery to produce her dish: Sassafras-smoked brisket with pickled onions on a goat cheese-laced bun. For our vegetarian guests, Leah is offering smoked summer vegetables with pickled onions on a goat cheese-laced bun.
Team 2: Mubanga Chanda of Stango Cuisine is teaming up with Moore Family Farm, BlueMoon Farm, and Kilgus Farmstead to create her dish: Curry lamb in stew served over Nshima, a porridge made with white cornmeal. Vegetarians can enjoy Mubanga’s kale and mushrooms served over Nshima.
Team 3: Curtis McGhee of C&C Kitchen is paired with Kilgus Farmstead, Meyer Produce, Ludwig Farmstead Creamery, and Funks Grove Heritage Fruits & Grains to make his dish: braised beef served over cheesy herb grits, plus a hot Jonny Cake with merlot gravy and microgreens.
Team 4: Ian Nutting & Doug Hodge of Weird Meat Boyz are partnering with Allison Centennial Farm, Honey Creek Farm, and Ludwig Farmstead Creamery to produce their dish: Handmade agnolotti pasta filled with a smoked pork farce and tossed in a habanero, blackberry, and plum agrodolce. For our vegetarian friends, the boys are offering handmade agnolotti pasta filled with a fire-roasted sweet corn and kale farce and tossed in a shallot cream sauce.
For dessert, Heidi Leuszler will whip up Midwest Dream Puffs, featuring native flavors of elderflower and black raspberry. Some of the best local peaches raise the cream puff to new heights.
And for those with dietary restrictions, Piato Cafe is providing an allergy-friendly option of white bean-stuffed portobello mushrooms served with rice.
SP: How will the winners be decided?
Vollmer: Dishes are ranked two ways: a panel of judges and the people. Our judges this year are Brenda Welch with University of Illinois Dining Services, Mark Cannon of Black Dog Smoke & Ale House, and Mackensie Archibald of Common Ground Food Co-op. They’ll be scoring chefs on a number of criteria: taste, execution, creativity, use of local ingredients, vegetarian options, and more.
In-person guests will vote on a paper ballot, while curbside guests will vote virtually. The People’s Choice winner will be announced after the event.
SP: What are you looking forward to for this year’s Artisan Cup & Fork?
Vollmer: What I’m most excited about is the diversity of participating chefs’ culinary backgrounds and influences. Stango Cuisine is the first and only Zambian restaurant in North America, and Mubanga is sure to bring a flavor profile some guests have never experienced. Chef Curtis McGhee’s Southern-inspired cooking isn’t strictly Cajun or Creole; he has curated his own palate over the last 20 years of running restaurants, from Louisiana all the way up to Chicago. Ian Nutting and Doug Hodge of Weird Meat Boyz united over their passion for experimenting with smoking meats, vegetables, and anything else they can get their hands on. If their dish is as creative as their sauces, it’s sure not to disappoint. And Leah Bodine has embraced using local ingredients in her catering business for years. She’s cooked for weddings, movie sets, and big-name bands like REO Speedwagon and ZZ Top — and now she’s cooking for our guests.
Regardless of whether you’re curbside or in-person, you’ll be an active part of our local food celebration. Everyone will be able to hear from the chefs about the ingredients they’re using and their approach to cooking. They’ll have the opportunity to learn more about the work The Land Connection does and why our local food system matters. Plus, they can participate in a virtual auction featuring goods and services from small businesses and artisans around Champaign-Urbana.
We can’t wait to see you, whether it’s through your car window or at the dinner table.
You can buy tickets for in-person or curbside meals. The curbside tickets are available for $65, and curbside diners will select a time between 4 and 8 p.m. to pick up their dinners in their car at Bluestem Hall. In-person tickets are $125 and limited to 50 attendees, masks required. The in-person event is from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday night.
Buy your tickets here before Thursday at 11:59 p.m. for this Saturday’s food event.
Read about the 2019 in-person Artisan Cup & Fork and last year’s curbside Artisan Cup & Fork here.
Bluestem Hall
1401 E Old Church Road
Urbana
Top image by Jessica Hammie.
