Culinary Productions’ and Pixie Productions’ 1st Annual Mardi Gras Gourmet Dinner Night held on March 4th is the definition of the word “success”! And also “fun”, “delicious” as well as the phrase “must do”. Using the backdrop of Pensacola’s Friday evening Mardi Gras Parade, Chef Mike DeSorbo and Creative Director Raela Villanueva of Culinary and Pixie Productions threw a Mardi Gras party like you read about. The perfect blend of food, drink, art, entertainment and location helped raise $700 to benefit the “Escape” program: the main reason for the event. The Escape program is a bi-weekly art/music therapy session sponsored by Truth For Youth, Inc. to benefit Students for Suicide Awareness whose mission is to raise awareness that suicide, the 2nd leading cause of death on college campuses, CAN BE PREVENTED.
Donated pieces and crafts by featured artists Ashton Howard, Austin Waller, Sonja Evans and Students for Suicide Awareness, UWF Chapter helped create the Mardi Gras atmosphere that was certainly topped off with the delectable gastronomic delights of Chefs DeSorbo, Dave Bain and Jeremy Fromm (you guys can whip up the blackened bacon-wrapped shrimp for me any day!) Very pretty ladies…er…pixies graced the hall greeting guests and leaving pixie dust about. Thank you Ryean, Savannah, Jessica, Deb and Jane! Matt Windley of Opici Wine Co. ensured no one went thirsty and I have to give a shout out to the evening’s musical mix master DJ Ramsey Coates of AnyDayDJ.com who had us all shaking our “groove-thangs” all night. Finally, a big thanks to Jef Bond of Bond Photographics who allows us to recall this event pictorially (and I might add extremely well) at his website.
It can’t be overstated how well this group can throw a party and if you ever have the privilege of being invited to one of their bi-monthly bashes, I have one word for you: GO!!!
