“He’s artistic and cooking is his art form,” said Chef Ian Carson’s mother, Rabbi Shoshana Carson of Heska Amuna Synagogue. “At P.F. Chang’s, the head chef took him under his wing.” Chef Spence Bender graduated from Bearden High and is an elite musician. “He’s a creative soul and always has been,” said his stepmother, Wendy Roth, “going from music to being a chef.”
Diners were greeted at the door with a welcoming Lavender Honey Spritzer in a champagne flute. Conceived by General Manager John Williams, it combined local honey, lemon simple syrup, Prospero Prosecco, and a sprig of lavender.
Cityview Publisher Nathan Sparks introduced Executive Chef Ian Carson and Sous Chef Spence Bender: “Ian is very precise in his plating. Spence was born in Asheville and worked at Caldo Pomodoro near San Diego, California.” The guests included Carson’s parents Dave and Rabbi Shoshana Carson as well as Bender’s dad, Steve Bender, and stepmother Wendy Roth.
For a delectable amuse-bouche, a seared Hokkaido scallop was topped with Benton’s 30-month-aged country ham and finished with apple butter.
The “Warm Vichy” appetizer was silky leek-and-potato velouté, enriched with milk and cream, gently warmed and infused with Benton’s smoky bacon, poured tableside over smoked trout roe, crispy rye crumble, and leek ash, brightened with micro chive blossoms and a drizzle of lemon oil. The 2023 Christian Moreau Chablis, said diner Micah Wells, “was in harmony with the dish. Potato soup can get so heavy, and the Chablis was delightfully light.”
As a bonus second course, Ossabaw pork belly rillons from South Carolina were slow-cooked, caramelized in red wine, and served on sticks with charred onion purée and pickled mustard seeds with a 2017 Georges Duboeuf Domaine les Chenevières Macon-Villages Chardonnay.
The entrée was a pan-seared duck breast infused with honey and lavender cooked to a delicate medium rare, complemented by carrot fluid gel, velvety mint-infused pea purée, and crispy wild Extraterrestrial Fungi mushroom arancini. The plate was finished with a lavender-honey jus and edible flowers and paired with a 2022 Belle Glos ‘Clark & Telephone’ Pinot Noir.
The dessert was a deconstructed red-wine-poached pear paired with whipped blue cheese mousse, honey-sweetened ice cream, and shards of house-made honeycomb candy, accented by a rich red wine reduction and edible flowers, and paired with a 2022 Inniskillin Riesling Icewine.
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