by columnist Donna Shor
Last night at Cities restaurant marked the Eleventh Annual Chef Night, when each year McLean wealth manager Barry Glassman turns from the stock market listings and takes up a ladle to benefit the National Brain Tumor Society. (Cities owner Michael Kosmides and Barry Glassman shown in above photo)
Every seat was taken at the dinner, with several out-of-state-guests augmenting the large local contingent, many of whom were Barry’s clients. They all know, from past proof, that when this talented amateur chef lights up the ovens, great things happen. Starting off: smoked lamb with papaya salsa, pastry cones with goat cheese and preserves of figs sauteed in port, poached lobster tartlet and wild mushroom “chopsticks.” And these were only the hors d’oeuvres.
Citrus-Glazed Black Cod opened the dinner, with radish-cucumber salad and beet, apple and onion chutney on the side of the delectable fish, followed by the creamiest possible Butternut Risotto finished with vermouth. Third course was a cut-it-with-a-spoon Beef Tenderloin, sharing the plate with a mini-muffin sized Country Braised Short Rib Pot Pie, its filling a mashed and marvelous example of short ribs raised to the tenth power. The pot pie was almost a little joke, compared to the standard version, but a delicious one.
The desserts, all classics deconstructed and reassembled in a new guise, were also fun. Baked Alaska Brownie Stix were golden brown meringue-coated “lollipops” of chocolate fudge brownies, the Key Lime Whoopie Pies were soft vanilla cookies with key lime filling, the Rustic Tarts were miniatures filled with assorted fruits, and the Pretzel Peanut Butter Cups tasted just like they sound, good.
Each table was provided with a small forest of wine bottles to pair with these marvels. The silent auction tables could have buckled under the weight of all the prestigous wines they held for guests to bid on.
At the live auction, the true stars, which brought $3000, were the great bottle of Chateau Petrus, a 1975, and another aristocrat in the world of wine, Chateau Ausone from the esteemed 1982 vintage. Auctioneer was Rick Gunderson of Schneider’s on Capitol Hill liquors.
Versatile Glassman’s talents range to photography as well. His original photo of Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champ Le Bron James dunking in the US vs. Brazil Game brought $2,000.
Rick Genderson and Barry Glassman
The Glassmans and the Friedmans
This was not an audience that sat on its hands when it came time to bid; many had personal and family ties to brain tumor afflictions and understand well the suffering it imposes. There are currently almost 700,000 people with brain tumors in this country, with around 68,000 new victims added each year.
An example of generosity toward the cause came when one couple, Tom and Alice Braier, who won a luxury trip in the Napa Valley’s vineyards with their bid of $13,000, handed the trip back to be auctioned again, which raised an additional $13,300 for the National Brain Tumor Society.
