On January 27^th, Sargent’s catered the American Heart Association Patrons’ Gala at the historic Meeting of The Waters in Franklin, TN. The Alice In Wonderland themed event featured custom cocktail fare such as: smoked salmon and hearts of palm roulades, open-faced herbed goat cheese mousse and roasted beet sandwich, tea-smoked beef tenderloin on Crostini with sautéed portabella mushrooms shaped like spades, mutton lollipops with mint jelly aspic clubs, braised rabbit with Brie and pear en bouchee, and diamond-shaped cucumber tomato sandwiches with pepper mousse. Desserts included: iced Cheshire grin cookies, “Eat Me” assorted petit fours and a tea cup trifle of amaretto cake, chocolate mousse and raspberry anglaise.

As guests arrived, they were served champagne or the “Mad Hatter” signature drink of the evening. A creamy bisque dubbed Absalom’s Exotic Mushroom Soup was also passed to take the chill off the newly arrived guests. Once the meeting concluded, a trumpeter signaled the start of dinner and guests dined at long banquet tables, decorated with the true ambiance of Lewis Carroll’s famous story.

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Photos by Focal Expressions

Lobster salad, chilled local melons, cucumber, hearts of palm, mango lime salsa, roasted sweet corn and crispy hickory smoked bacon. Hass avocado stuffed with seafood artichoke salad, smoky paprika remoulade, drizzled with red chili romesco sauce. Green tomato and cucumber gazpacho with basil and Bradley tomato pico. Seared sea scallops over sauteed spinach, summer tomato bisque, sweet summer corn and a “brunoise” of Smiley’s country ham. Pork scaloppini over Farmer’s Market crook neck and zucchini “risotto” with homemade basil pesto and tomato butter jus. Blueberry and peach croustade topped with homemade vanilla ice cream.

“Our bards are famed who strike the silver wire:
Our youth are bolder than the southern swains:
Our maidens fairer in the sprightly dance:
We lack not songs, nor instruments of joy,
Nor echoes sweet, nor waters clear as heaven,
Nor laurel wreaths against the sultry heat.”

-To Summer, William Blake

-E