Sacramento dessert pros to make dinner at hot-ticket Sweet & Savory event

Ginger Ramon Matt
Courtesy of Ginger Elizabeth Hahn
(L-R) Chefs Ramon Perez, Ginger Elizabeth Hahn and Matt Masera will be among those participating in the intimate Sweet & Savory event on Nov. 9.

A limited number of tickets go on sale Monday for Sweet & Savory, an intimate new tasting event in which five of the region’s best pastry chefs and chocolatiers will converge to provide a uniquely flavorful dining experience for a good cause.

The downtown dining hot spot Mother will welcome just 60 guests for the event on Nov. 9, when pastry chefs Ramon Perez (Puur Chocolat), Ginger Elizabeth Hahn (Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates), Matt Masera (Mother), Edward Martinez (Bourbon Steak) and Jane Anderson (Ella Dining Room and Bar) will prepare a 10-course tasting menu. Each chef is challenged to cook a savory dish with a sweet element and a sweet dish with a hint of savory.

The event will feature two seatings—one at 5 p.m. and one at 8 p.m., with each allowing for 30 people. Tickets for the dinner are $115 per person with an optional wine pairing for $55. (They go on sale Oct. 6 at 12 a.m. — i.e. midnight Sunday evening.) All proceeds from the event benefit Kickcancer, a Mammoth Lakes-based foundation that provides financial assistance to families of cancer patients.

Sweet & Savory is the latest reflection of the collaboration embraced in Sacramento’s booming food and drink culture, where chefs, bartenders, coffee roasters and brewers have worked together to showcase local ingredients, education and other dimensions of the farm-to-fork movement. Now, Hahn says, is the chance for the region’s top dessert connoisseurs to experiment for diners.

“This is the first event [where] good pastry chefs are going to get together and do something like this,” says Hahn, who, with Perez, conceived Sweet & Savory. “It’s going to be a learning process; it’s going to be interesting tasting savory food from pastry chefs.”

Organizers note that Sweet & Savory’s offerings will diverge at times from its host restaurant Mother’s exclusively vegetarian menu. And while the chefs’ offerings are being kept under wraps for now, Hahn says to expect innovative dishes that play a twist on each of the chefs’ personalities and backgrounds.

“It’s a big challenge,” Hahn says. “I’ve never cooked savory for the public, so I’m trying something I’ve never tried before.”

Tickets for Sweet & Savory go on sale Oct. 6 at 12 a.m. (midnight on Sunday). Dinner will take place on Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. & 8 p.m. at Mother, which is located at 1023 K St. $115 per person. Purchase tickets on eventbrite.com and click here to email chef Ramon Perez regarding RSVPs for the optional wine tasting.

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