CRAFTY DINNERS
Mac and cheese fest offers gourmet twists on classic dish
Chefs from Albuquerque and Santa Fe will be getting creative with one of America’s favorite comfort foods — macaroni and cheese. More than 40 New Mexico chefs will compete to see who has the best mac and cheese creation during The Macaroni & Cheese Festival on Saturday, Aug. 20, at the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum grounds. The 21-and-over event also will feature wine and beer tastings of a number of local and national vendors, including Gruet Winery, Shock Top Brewing Co., Alaskan Brewing Co., Absolut Vodka and more. Beer, wine, margaritas and Bloody Marys will be available for purchase for those wanting a full glass. Entertainment will be provided by Le Chat Lunitique and headliner Kat DeLuna. The event is presented by First Mortgage Company of Albuquerque, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation.
“They enter the gate, and they’ll get a commemorative wine glass,” said Juanita Jennings, digital director for American General Media, which organizes the event. “They also get a little tote bag from the New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation, and they get to walk around and enjoy the live entertainment that we have and sample the dishes. … It’s unlimited sampling of the gourmet mac and cheese dishes.”
Participants include The Council Room at Sandia Resort & Casino, Kasey’s, Ponderosa Brewing Co., Pueblo Harvest Cafe, the Ranchers Club, the Range Cafe, St. Clair Winery & Bistro, Torinos’ @ Home, Vintage 423 and many others.
Eventgoers will receive a token to vote for their favorite mac and cheese dish. The participating chefs will be competing in the chefs’ knockout competition and encourage eventgoers to taste and try their dishes because they “really want that voting token,” according to Jennings. The chef that has the most voting tokens at the end of the day becomes the Chef of The Macaroni & Cheese Festival. There will be first-, second- and third-place winners.
“It’s not your regular mac and cheese,” Jennings said. “The dishes that they come up with are flavorful; they are unique. They are creative with their look, taste and texture. This year, we will have a baconcaramel mac and cheese dish. We will have a burger noodle dish. … We’ll have a strawberry chardonnay mac dish. Last year’s winner was a blueberry mac and cheese dish. It was a graham cracker cookie on the bottom with elbow noodles on top, drizzled with a blueberry sauce topped with mint and whipped cream. It was cold. It’s not just a scoop it and move along, (the chefs) do take pride in the presentation that they put forth for the (eventgoers) that come through and want to enjoy their dishes.”