Showhouse shows off culinary artists

By LaReeca Rucker

Creating an impression. From home design and decor to cooking, it's all about good taste at the 17th annual St. Andrew's Designer Showhouse at Reunion in Madison.

The event runs Wednesday through Sunday.

Art Smith, who is perhaps best known as Mississippi native Oprah Winfrey's former personal chef, will headline the culinary events. Also cooking up a storm will be three Mississippi chefs who were semi-finalists for James Beard Foundation Awards, the nation's most prestigious honors for culinary professionals.

Liz Carroll, event co-chairwoman, said this is the first time culinary cooking demonstrations have been part of Showhouse. Some participating chefs have children enrolled in St. Andrew's.

"We have a rich culinary tradition at our school," said Carroll. "We are Southern, and if you are going to do anything on the weekend, especially when family is concerned, food is going to be involved. People are looking for new and interesting ways to entertain, and generally what Showhouse does is give people ideas for home."

Carroll added that food in the South isn't just about eating.

"Memories centered around food evoke a sense of place, connection and belonging," she said. "I remember meals with my grandparents, and the snapshots I carry in my head almost always center around the meal, whether it was something as simple as catfish with my grandfather or fare provided by a James Beard notable."

Carroll said the state has an incredible array of culinary talent, "and for them to be involved in this is really special."

Chef Derek Emerson, a semi-finalist in the James Beard Foundation Awards, co-owns Walker's Drive-In restaurant in Jackson with his wife, Jennifer. Their children, Alex and Avery Villeret, attend school at St. Andrew's.

The James Beard Foundation Awards have been called "the Oscars of the food world," and Emerson, along with Oxford chefs John Currence of City Grocery and Dan Latham of L&M's Kitchen and Salumeria, were named semi-finalists for the 2008 Best Chef South award.

"They have a list of 20 chefs from each region, and there were three from Mississippi, which is pretty cool and kind of unusual to have that many from the state," Emerson said.

In fact, Currence has been named one of the five finalists. Winners will be announced June 8 in New York City.

The St. Andrew's Designer Showhouse lunch that follows Smith's cooking demonstration will be prepared by Mississippi chefs Currence, Emerson, Todd McClellan of Madison's Rapport restaurant, and Robert St. John of Hattiesburg's the Purple Parrot Cafe. They will create interpretations of Smith-inspired gourmet dishes.

On Saturday, Helen Puckett DeFrance, a St. Andrew's parent, cooking teacher and author of the cookbook At Home Cafe, will conduct a "Fresh From the Garden" cooking class from 10-11 a.m.

DeFrance, a Jackson native who owns a business called Thyme to Cook, has appeared on Martha Stewart's show, Martha, and she created a children's cooking program at Blackberry Farm in the Great Smokey Mountains.

She'll show children how to make BLT pita pockets, carrot French fries and fruit skewers with honey yogurt sauce.

"I am so excited because I think it's a good way to bring families together in the heart of the home - the kitchen," she said. The event costs $20 per person.

Raised cottage

The Designer Showhouse is the school's biggest fundraiser. This year, designers from the metro area transformed a 3,400-square-foot raised cottage designed by Stephen S. Fuller for Southern Living house plans into the showhouse.

Denise Cooper, event design coordinator, said the theme is "Welcome Home."

"When you walk in, it's kind of a light, open, airy feel," she said. "There are metallic accents in almost every room. We've got some cool faux treatments in the house, including a bronze bark look on one of the walls in the dining room that is a conversation piece. Antique mirrors align the stairwell, and we have silver leafing in the hallway done by a muralist."

The house has also "gone green" this year. "St. Andrew's has a big 'going green' emphasis," Cooper said, "and we're transferring that to the house as well."

The home features soaring ceilings, rich hardwood floors, a glass-enclosed sunroom, porches on two floors, a Viking kitchen and a guesthouse converted into a home office and studio.

Events also include a golf tournament Thursday, a tennis tournament Friday and a 5K race and fun run Saturday.