Friend to Wichita chefs Jimmy Vo launching dinner series at historic Delano venue
Jimmy Vo is one of managing partners of the new Odd Fellow Hall — the historic Delano ballroom turned event space above Leslie Coffee Co. that I told you about last month.
Vo, the owner of Kan-Grown Hydro Farm, is also a master of microgreens, a bearer of bean sprouts, and he’s one of the most connected guys in town when it comes to local chefs.
This weekend, Vo is bringing two of his areas of expertise together when he launches the first in a series of special chef’s dinners he plans to offer in the ballroom, a 2,700 square-foot space at 930 W. Douglas that has been around since 1911.
The first “Chef’s Collective Dinner Theatre” is scheduled for 6 to 11 p.m. on Saturday and will include an eight-course dinner by local chefs Bill Crites and Weston Townsley as well as drinks by mixologist (and Vo’s partner at Odd Fellow Hall) Cody Lonergan. The event will also include live music by The Sage Judd Band Experience.
Tickets to the dinner are $125, and they’re available through Wednesday at oddfellowhall.com.
Vo came up with the idea for the dinners last fall and planned to launch them then, utilizing the big chef’s kitchen Odd Fellow Hall’s owners installed during their remodel of the space. But then COVID-19 conditions worsened, and he decided to hold off.
Recently, he got back in touch with one of the chefs he’d lined up last fall: Bill Crites, whose resume includes stints at Dempsey’s, Kingman’s Hooray Ranch and more. Crites said he’d like to collaborate with Townsley, who’s responsible for the baked goods at Reverie Coffee Roasters.
Their menu, which you can see below, includes high-end “surf-and-turf” dishes and utilizes wagyu beef from a local company called Wheat State Wagyu. It will also include things like caviar, scallops, pho, a lobster and sunflower salad with beef fat hollandaise, and more.
“We dreamed up all new dishes neither of us have ever had or made, utilizing local produce, different types of pickling, fermentation, a broad range of cooking techniques, flavor combinations and textures,” Crites said. “It’s going to be really special.”
Vo has said he plans to continue the dinner series at the hall every six weeks or so and will have a rotating cast of local chefs.
Chef’s dinner menu
Below are the descriptions of each dish planned for the dinner, which were provided by Crites.
Wagyu tartare | scallop carpaccio | mulberry seed cracker
Lobster | sunflower | artichoke | tallow hollandaise
Pho broth | wagyu 3 ways | prawn meatball | vermicelli | basil
Trout | beef fat potato | cucumber | dill | buttermilk | roe
Wagyu sirloin | seared scallop | brassica varieties | tonnato sauce
Caviar | creme fraiche | herb tuile | chive
Soft egg | lemon cream | cured hamachi | coriander | honey
Textures of berries | fromage blanc gelato | Earl Grey gelee
This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 9:52 AM.
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