Here’s What We Ate at Cordelia’s Beard Foundation Dinner

The benefit was a celebration of Ohio food with chefs such as Salt’s Jill Vedaa, Larder’s Jeremy Umansky and more. By Dillon Stewart

There’s no such thing as too many cooks in the kitchen.

That’s what the dozen or so chefs proved last night at Cordelia during an Ohio-focused benefit for the James Beard Foundation. The seven-course, ticketed event served an Ohio-themed tasting menu to 175 people over four hours at the East Fourth Street restaurant. 

Curated by Cordelia owner Andrew Watts and executive chef Vinnie Cimino, who was recently named a semifinalist as Best Chef in the Great Lakes region for the upcoming James Beard Awards, the seven-course menu featured dishes from Jeremy and Ally Umanksy of Larder Delicatessen & Bakery, Jill Vedaa of Salt and Poppy, Jose Salazar of Mitas, Goose & Elder and Day Lilly in Cincinnati, Brandon Chrostowski of Edwins Leadership and Restaurant Institute, Jamie Simpson of the Culinary Vegetable Institute at the Chef’s Garden in Huron and Cordelia sous chef Ryan Boone, as well as Cimino.

“We’ve never done anything of this magnitude,” says Cimino, whose restaurant was named Best New Restaurant last year. “Honestly, it’s a surreal experience to be able to cook with all these chefs that I’ve looked up to for years.”

The celebration of local provisions highlighted ingredients from Chef Farmer Lee and the Chef’s Garden, Certified Angus Beef, Kate’s Fish, Oberlin Food Hub, Akron Honey and Dee-Jay’s Processing. Guests went home with a unique piece from the Ohio-based Billy Ritter Studio.

“We really wanted to do something that celebrates the culinary excellence of Ohio and the Midwest, with good food and great people,” says Cimino. “The fact that we are able to partner with the James Beard Foundation to help support their mission of Good Food for Good, anchored around equity, sustainability and leadership in the restaurant industry, made this a double win.”

While the dinner was planned long before Cimino found out that the foundation named him a semifinalist, last night’s event served as a fitting celebration.

“It’s such a great foundation, so we were already doing this,” says Cimino of the nonprofit with the goal to elevate America’s food culture. “This was just icing on the cake.”

Here are some pics of each course. 

Welcome Bite
Duck + chicken liver tart with mom's strawberry jam.

Jamie Simpson of Culinary Vegetable Institute
A walk through the chef's garden. Turnip, radish, spinach, amaranth, onion.

Jeremy Umanksy & Allie La Valle-Umansky of Larder Delicatessen and Bakery
Midwest snack plate. Prosciutto, Lake Erie caviar, pickled mushroom, Ohio truffle, rolled oat chip.

Brandon Chrostowski of Edwin's Leadership Institute
Seafood sausage. White fish mousse, shrimp, scallop, lobster, pine nuts, buerre blanc.

Jill Vedaa of Salt
Root vegetable pave. Broccolini chimichurri, whipped brown butter.

Vinnie Cimino of Cordelia
Silky chicken and dumplings. Miso Szechuan veloute, carrot tapenade.

Jose Salazar of Mitas, Goose & Elder, and Day Lilly
Hamachi collar. Thai Curry, rice chip, aromatic herbs.

Ryan Boone of Cordelia
Frozen eclair. Puff pastry, koji chocolate chip semifreddo, spent whey caramel.