( Courtesy graphic)Local garden education organization Apple Seeds Inc. will host another installment of their Kitchen Table Dinner Series next month.
The upcoming event, set for Friday, July 26, will feature cuisine by local chefs Vince Pianalto and Marshall Shafkowitz, both of Brightwater: A Center for the Study of Food in Bentonville.
The local chefs will serve a multi-course meal featuring some produce from the Apple Seeds teaching farm. The event will begin with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m.
The dinner will take place at Apple Seeds’ teaching farm, located at 2648 N. Old Wire Road in Fayetteville.
Bios for Pianalto and Shafkowitz are below.
Tickets to the event are $145. Proceeds benefit Apple Seeds,
Featured Chefs – Chef Vince Pianalto began his career in kitchens as a dishwasher at 16and worked his way up through the ranks to having become executive chef/owner of more than one restaurant in the area and to garnering a reputation as one of the best pastry chefs for hundreds of miles around. Along the way, Pianalto received instruction at Le Cordon Bleu and Chicago establishments, and trained in baking and chocolate in Seattle with the leading chef for the U.S. Baking team. From a family owned Italian restaurant to a French pastry shop, experience gained from each business venture added to his base of knowledge. While operating a bakery in Fayetteville, Vince began teaching in the baking program of the area community college. Vince was then approached in 2009 by Springdale School District, his alma mater, to head their culinary program. He gained certification through the Arkansas Education Board and began teaching all levels of culinary curriculum, including ProStart, an industry-backed culinary arts and restaurant management program for high school students. Often asked how he was able to get his students to perform at that level, Vince would claim ‘ I never told them they couldn’t do anything.’
Chef Marshall Shafkowitz currently serves as the Executive Director of Brightwater: A Center for the Study of Food. With over 20 years of professional experience in culinary education, including K-12 and higher education arenas, and 27 years of restaurant and hospitality industry experience in the U.S. and Europe, Chef Marshall Shafkowitz has built a career out of his love for food and a passion to share his knowledge. Shafkowitz currently holds a position on the SkillsUSA Culinary Arts Technical Committee as a Skills Arkansas Culinary & Commercial Baking Lead Judge. He is also the 2022-2023 Commander, Naval Installations Command Culinary Competition Kitchen Boss, and is a nationally recognized speaker and member of several local and national industry organizations. In 2016 he was named the American Culinary Federation Chicago Chapter Chef Educator of the Year and a 2021 Celebrate Arkansas Ones to Watch award winner.
