Chef aid: Celebrity event to benefit Arts Center

Fresh from his victory on the Food Network's "Iron Chef America" reality show, Atlanta chef Kevin Rathbun comes to Hilton Head Island next week to whip up another five-course culinary winner for a few lucky guests.

The founder of Rathbun's Restaurant-- named one of America's "Top New Restaurants" in 2004 by Esquire Magazine and Travel & Leisure -- is one of six nationally renowned chefs participating in the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina's Celebrity Chef Celebration, a fundraiser for its education and outreach programming.

Rathbun will be joined by Chris Hastings of Birmingham's The Hot & Hot Fish Club, Wally Joe of Brushmark Restaurant in the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Jim Gerhardt of Kentucky's Limestone Restaurant, Jeff Tunks of DC Coast Restaurant in Washington, D.C., and the Lowcountry's own Bob Waggoner of the Charleston Grill.

"I like this event because you know where the money is going," said Waggoner, who has participated in the last several years. "It's a good feeling to know you're helping to 'wake up' kids to the arts."

A recipient of the James Beard Foundation's "Rising Stars of the 21st Century" awards -- the Oscars of the food world -- Waggoner helped recruit the epicurean team for the dinners being held Wednesday through May 30 in some of the area's private homes.

Each chef will be paired with a premier vintner, who will select special wines to complement their particular cuisine. Among the participating vineyards are Sawyer Cellars, Trinchero Family Estates and The Hess Collection.

Rathbun, cooking at the Sea Pines home of Opal and Hans Abbink, has planned a five-course feast that will include seared sea scallop on white asparagus risotto with watermelon radish, veal cheek canelone with golden raisins and basil sabayon and roasted prime strip loin on sweet potato gratin and smoked garlic chimichurri. Joullian Vineyards and Sawyer Cellars will provide the wines for the evening.

"When I go out of town like this, I like to experiment with new dishes," said Rathbun, who owns two other acclaimed Atlanta restaurants -- Krog Bar and Kevin Rathbun Steak. "If it's well-received, it could end up on one of my menus."

Chef Hastings, one of five finalists nominated the last two years for the "Best Chef in the South" award by the Beard Foundation, has planned a menu that will begin with Jerusalem artichoke soup with truffle crème fraîche and Louisiana crawfish and Vidalia onion risotto with lemon oil and celery microgreens.

The pièce de résistance is a roasted heritage loin of pork from the Fudge Family Farm with homemade sauerkraut, baby carrots and fresh dug potatoes. Almost all of the ingredients used in the menu are freshly grown in Alabama and will be shipped in advance to Hilton Head.

"The pork I use comes from a farm that cross breeds two different types of pigs to get the very finest pork I've ever had the good fortune to work with," said Hastings, who will be cooking at the Wexford home of Mary Ann and Ron Soldo. "This isn't like pork you'd eat at a pig pickin'. It's incredibly tender and delicious."