Amanda hosts "a father's table" celebrity charity cook-off

I was excited to host and emcee the annual "A Father's Table" charity cook-off at Gilly's in Dallas on Father's Day! Read more and see photos below:

 Thanks Terry Allen for organizing such a great event. Actor/model Marcus Patrick gave a great prayer and speech. The event brought together dozens of chefs to cook their favorite dishes and compete for bragging rights in the best tasting dish, best appearance, and best recipe categories. Tasters got a chance to sample food from each chef, listen to great music, dance and fellowship. I over the fact that there was everything from lobster bisque to banana pudding and brisket.

FedEx sponsored A Father’s Table served food and entertainment   for over 650 attendees.

Dallas — 07/01/2015 — Sunday, June 21, 2015 at 3-6 pm at the Gilley’s of Dallas marked the day that members of the community who have succeeded in the kitchen and also as fathers, husbands, mentors, business and community leaders celebrated fatherhood with the 16th annual event.  A Father’s Table is an annual event (16 years in Dallas Fort Worth formerly called Real Men Cook) honored fathers, the mentors and the positive accomplishments of men in the community. FedEx employees along with members of the community will cooked some of their best old fashioned recipes to serve on Father’s Day.  Over 600 people attended the event held at Gilley’s Southside Music Hall.

A Father’s Table is a culinary festival where men volunteer to cook food to raise money for charity. This year men served some of their best dishes at the event. Kevin Colts and his son, Kevin Colts, II served the crowd his specialty Banana Pudding with Vanilla wafer crumbles and chocolate drizzle. CEO Jesse Jenkins returned to line of women tasting his famous “nasty Beans” which is a mix of healthy beans and vegetables. Michael Karpyszyn served another famous Latin-tinged dish - Chimichurri Argentinian ribs with rosemary, garlic and parmesan mashed potatoes and carrots.

Community mentor, Byron Jackson, returned with his award winning Gumbo which was quickly consumed by everyone attending. “I am now going to begin a catering offer of the gumbo as a result of the popularity of my food at this event, says Jackson.

“This is my best Fathers’ Day ever and I am looking forward to next year’s event already”, says Colts.  Chef D C Williams served his seafood lobster bisque that he had showcased on NBC5 that weekend. Soap Opera celebrity, Marcus Patrick served as the celebrity host and opened the event in prayer on stage.  The team of male chefs were led by nationally renowned Chef Cassondra Armstrong, CEO of Culinary Concepts.

Thanks to support of Director Debi Pizzica, FedEx proceeds from the event will enable a large group of area youth from local schools to attend several culinary mentoring sessions.  Men who take part set aside their typical Father’s Day privileges to cook for their families and communities. The event had games, activities and live entertainment throughout the day led by Sherna Armstrong and Griot/artist Melody Bell.   A Father’s Table team was featured on the Livewell Network’s My Family Recipes Rockwith Joey Fatone of N-Sync fame.  Celebrity tasters included Philanthropist Isabel Cotrell, Media VP Oscar Joyner, Judge Victor Landers, Publisher Jill Darden, Toyota Executive & Community Leader Al Moten, spiritual icon Reverend Dr. Sheron Patterson , A Father’s Table First Lady Starlene Stringer as well as media personality Amanda Fitzhugh of WFAA served as emcees.

Under the new name, A Father’s Tablem the founder, Terry Allen  has successfully executed   this  Father’s Day culinary festival for 15 years. The event audience is about 70% women and children. www.afatherstable.com