Audi's PROOF Culinary Dinner Series: Nashville

We were fortunate enough to attend Audi's PROOF Culinary Dinner Series: Nashville. The first-of-its-kind, four-city culinary experience is in celebration of the all-new Audi Q3 and in support of the Audi and James Beard Foundation scholarship benefitting aspiring female chefs.

WHAT: Audi is hosting a four-part dinner series in Nashville, Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and Seattle for the launch of the new Q3 SUV featuring female award winning chefs and restaurant owners, and graduates of the Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (WEL) Program, with founding support from Audi. The WEL Program provides culinary entrepreneurs with tools in finance, business strategy, branding, and investment. With less than 6% of all head chefs in the U.S. being female, Audi and the James Beard Foundation seek to shine a light on the conversation around opportunities for women in culinary by providing a stage for female chefs to showcase their culinary artistry.

In each city, PROOF, will operate one seating per night, for four nights, and we were pleased to attend the very first night in Nashville. At the helm was Raleigh-based Ashley Christensen, James Beard Outstanding Chef Award winner.

We weren’t sure exactly what to expect, besides a multi-course seated dinner of course, but we were immediately greeted at valet by reps from Audi that ushered us to test drive one of their brand new Q3.

After a super smooth ride, we were taken inside and shown our seats. The team behind the event did an incredible job with everything from table decor to a green floral wall. At our seats, we were presented with the menu but free to get up and socialize around the room and open-air kitchen. Cocktail hour included two signature cocktails from the bar, curated by Ann Marshall (High Wire Distilling Company, Charleston, SC).

The Garden Punch, pictured above, was an absolute standout and featured Hat Trick Botanical Gin, Lemon and High Garden tea. The definite standout of the passed appetizers were the Heirloom Tomato Hand Pies, a spin on a signature item Chef Ashley Christensen serves back in Raleigh. The hand pies featured a delicate yet crispy dough exterior with a burst of fresh heirlooms and hint of cheese inside.

Another standout from the passed appetizers were the Smoky Trout Roe with Creme Fraiche Tater Tots.

For a limited run event, the flow of the evening was absolute perfection. We were never rushed between the courses. Shoutout also to the wait staff that kept the liquor flowing, water glasses full and dirty plates out of the way.

As seen in the above menu, each of the courses had a paired beverage that really brought out the flavors of the dish. Everything we had was excellent but we’ll share with you a few of the highlight of the near 3 hour dining experience.

The second course featured NC Jumbo Lump Crab with Grated Tomato, Cream Sherry and Bay Laurel Grits. This was a massive portion that could have easily acted as an entree. There was so much fresh crab sitting atop of the grits that to us almost mimicked a risotto. The sauce was a tomato emulsion with sherry that offered the perfect amount of flavor to compliment the high quality lump crab meat. The beverage pairing was a Rose’, from Matthiasson in Napa, that was on the dryer side and worked perfectly with the dish.

The third course featured a Charcoal Roasted Ribeye Cap with several accompaniment sauces, Poole’s Macaroni Au Gratin (another recipe from Chef’s restaurant group in Raleigh), Marinated White Acre Field Peas with Charred Summer Squash and our favorite the Sweet Corn with Malt Emulsion, Queso Fresco and Summer Truffles. Everything just seemed to work harmoniously in this side dish that also featured fresh, shaved truffles on top. We went back for seconds and even thirds with this one.

Pictured above is a sampling of all the options available during the Third Course. The Charcoal Roasted Ribeye Cap was cooked to a perfect medium and we loved the preserved lemon chimichurri that was presented as one of the sauce options.

After all that, the evening was still not over! The final course consisted of an Iced ‘Irish’ Coffee featuring New Southern Revival Sorghum Whiskey and a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with a Malted Milk Panna Cotta. We were beyond stuffed at this point but the dessert was so amazing we ate nearly all of it. This course was curated by an alum of the James Beard Foundation WEL program, Joanne Canady-Brown, who has gone on to open her own bakery, The Gingered Peach, in Lawrenceville, NJ. This was hands down one of the best desserts we had ever had. The malted milk Panna Cotta was incredibly creamy yet light and paired beautifully with the pie. It was clear that the chef values using the freshest ingredients possible. We were thrilled to get to chat with Chef Joanne at the end of the event, who was a real treat herself!

At the end of the event, we were presented with leather Moleskin notebooks as a keepsake and Chef Ashley Christensen worked the room and made her way to chat with each of the guests. We loved getting to chat with Chef Ashley and found her to be incredibly kind, passionate and above all, humble. This was without a doubt one of the most perfectly executed events we have been to and would urge anyone who has a chance to attend another PROOF event or any of the chefs’ restaurants to do so.

In partnership with OpenTable, a limited number of tickets are available for consumers to make their dinner reservation at PROOF using the OpenTable app or online. Reservations are complimentary and guests are presented with the option to make a donation to The “Audi#DriveProgress Scholarship.” The new Audi and James Beard Foundation scholarship will be awarded to an aspiring female from each of the four cities and will be open to any female student enrolling or enrolled at a postsecondary institution that plans to pursue a career in the food industry.