Bud & Alley's Hosts Down South Wine Dinner May 8

One of our favorite South Walton restaurants is generously hosting another great event to benefit one of our beloved local charities. Bud & Alley’s Waterfront Restaurant on Scenic 30A in Seaside will host a special wine dinner on Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 7 p.m. featuring a menu especially prepared by celebrity chef and author Donald Link of New Orleans.

The four-course dinner served “family style” puts a delicious twist on classic Southern cuisine. The culinary adventure begins with Blue Crab Beignets with White Remoulade, Pork Rillion with Onion Jam and Cheddar Bacon Gougeres. The first course includes Beach House Ceviche and Grilled Royal Reds. The second course features Braised Lamb with Lemon & Olives, White Beans with Tasso and Fresh Mint Couscous. Lemon Blackberry Tart and McGaw’s Chocolate Cookies offer up a sweet ending to a creative take on Southern classic cuisine. Select wines will be thoughtfully paired with each course.

Tickets for the event are $125 per person, including tax and gratuity. All dinner guests will receive a complimentary, autographed copy of Chef Link’s recently published cookbook, “Down South: Bourbon, Pork, Gulf Shrimp & Second Helpings of Everything” (Clarkson-Potter), which unearths the region’s best local recipes, and serves up tales spun in Link’s distinctive voice.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Food for Thought, a charity based in Santa Rosa Beach formed in 2010 by Tiffanie Shelton to help fight local childhood hunger. Its small volunteer-based team provides backpacks filled with easy-to-make meals so children can focus on their development and education, not where the next meal is coming from.

Recognized as one of New Orleans’ preeminent chefs, Chef Link has peppered the streets of the Warehouse District of New Orleans with several distinctive restaurants over the course of the past 13 years. Herbsaint, a contemporary take on the French-American “bistro” was Link’s first restaurant and helped earn him a James Beard award for Best Chef (South, 2007).
 

Gourmet Magazine listed Herbsaint as one of the top 50 restaurants in America. Cochon, opened with chef-partner Stephen Stryjewski, is where Link offers true Cajun and Southern cooking featuring the foods and cooking techniques he grew up preparing and eating. It was listed in The New York Times as "one of the top three restaurants that count,” and named one of the 20 most important restaurants in America by Bon Appétit.

Cochon Butcher is a tribute to Old World butcher and charcuterie shops. Calcasieu is Chef Link’s private event facility that takes its name from one of the parishes in the Acadiana region of southwest Louisiana. Pêche Seafood Grill is the most recent to open in New Orleans in the spring of 2013.

The James Beard Foundation also nominated Link for the prestigious award of Outstanding Chef in 2012 and 2013. For his commitment to the industry, the Louisiana Restaurant Association honored Link by naming him Restaurateur of the Year in 2012.

“We are honored to welcome Chef Donald Link into Bud & Alley’s kitchen. We have long admired his fresh approach to Southern classics and look forward to serving our guests an expertly prepared dinner that will help a deserving local cause,” said Bud & Alley’s founder and owner Dave Rauschkolb. “Hosting special dinners like this personifies our mission of celebrating good food, good people and good times. By design, I love family style dinners; it’s all about gathering together and eating wonderful food and drink with great family and friends.”

Only a limited number of tickets will be sold for the Donald Link dinner. To purchase tickets, email Elijah Shelly at elijah@budandalleys.com or call (850) 231-5900. For more information on Bud & Alley’s Waterfront Restaurant, call (850) 231-5900 and visit www.budandalleys.com.

Founded in 1986 in Seaside, Florida Bud & Alley’s is located on Scenic Highway 30A in South Walton’s on the Northwest Florida Gulf Coast. Bud & Alley's original restaurant, owned by local Dave Rauschkolb, operates with one simple mantra: Good Food. Good People. Good Times. Now Bud & Alley’s is proud to celebrate one legacy tradition in two incomparable waterfront locations. Bud & Alley’s sister restaurant located near the Lighthouse Marina overlooking the Historic Grand Lagoon in Panama City Beach.

Serving award-winning menus with the freshest regional seafood as well as a Naples-style wood-fired pizza bar, patrons enjoy daily sunset celebrations during Happy Hour and the best of DJs and late night entertainment. Known for its quality food and exceptional service, Bud & Alley’s is a Top 20 Florida Restaurant and a Florida Trend magazine’s Golden Spoon Hall of Fame award winner. Bud & Alley’s Restaurant Group also owns and operates Bud & Alley’s Pizza Bar and Bud & Alley’s Taco Bar also located in Seaside, Florida.