seen: Corks & Forks & charity.
You play Pokemon Go; chef Josh Thurmond capitalizes on the popular game by creating a dish called Poke Man Go to serve at Corks & Forks, a walkabout supper and silent auction benefiting National Sports Center for the Disabled.
The name, he explained, is derived from the ingredients: slivers of ahi poke atop a scoop of blue crab salad that in turn was topped with a Palisade peach and mango foam and wasabi tobiko roe.
Thurmond, who had spent 15 years as a chef in restaurants along the East Coast before moving to Colorado and becoming metro program director for the NSCD, may not have won the Golden Fork Award — it went to Zengo and its chef de cuisine, Robert Juan — but we’re willing to bet that if there had been a prize for the dish with the most clever name, he and culinary partner Robert Hernandez would have received it.
The 10th anniversary Corks & Forks was held on the roof terrace of DaVita World Headquarters and in addition to the tasty tidbits from Thurmond and Zengo, the 400-plus guests were treated to such goodies as shrimp and crab lollipops from Epicurean Catering; shrimp and grits from Relish Catering; albacore tuna atop thinly sliced Palisade peaches from MAX’s Wine Dive, barbecued ribs and bourbon bread pudding from Sanctuary Golf Course, and scallion pancake roll-ups from Lucky Cat.
Humboldt Farm Fish Wine, Hopdoddy Burger Bar, Mister Tuna, Postino Wine Cafe and Habit Doughnut Dispensary also participated in Corks & Forks, as did Suerte Tequila, Spangalang Brewery and Southern Glazer’s Wines & Spirits.
The NSCD’s president and CEO, Becky Zimmermann, along with mascot Cinnamon, joined board chair Marcia Benshoof in welcoming such supporters as Leanna Clark, a vice chancellor at the University of Colorado Denver I Anschutz Medical Campus; Veronica Figoli, president/CEO of the Denver Public Schools Foundation, and her husband, Dr. David Fleischer, an associate professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Colorado; Donna Evans, president/CEO of Phenix Growth Partners; and such NSCD board members as Stockton Baker, senior vice president with DTZ Denver; Todd Antoniuk of Allstate Financial Services; Scott Remington, tax services practice leader for Grant Thornton Denver; and Marc Beshany of Wells Fargo Advisors.
National Sports Center for the Disabled is based in Winter Park and offers a range of therapeutic recreation and adaptive sports.