Top Chef Dinner with John Tesar

Ultimate Top Chef Fans – This experience is for you!

Join us on May 17th, at 6:30pm as we welcome fellow Bravo TV #TopChef Alums, Chef John Tesar and Angelo Sosa to our kitchen for a collaborative 5-course BEEFSTEAK dinner and cocktail experience.

Join us for a one of a kind, memorable and exciting evening of creative dishes, craft cocktails and mingling with Chefs. We are welcoming steakhouse Chef’s John Tesar and Angelo Sosa for an extraordinary dinner focused on steaks and cuts of meat and served in the traditional beefsteak style event.

The dinner will include 5-courses, each prepared and presented by Chef Katsuji, and Chef John in their signature styles, paired with craft cocktails from a’Verde’s mixologist team.

DRESS CODE

Upscale Attire

Complimentary a’Verde apron will be provided to guests in attendance

Reservations

Make your reservations right now and surprise your friends and family with a memorable experience.

Seats are $200 per person and include a 5-course dinner and cocktail pairings*

*Does not include tax and gratuity

Reservations can be made on Eventbrite as a $50 pre-paid seat, which will be deducted from you bill after dinner service the night of the event.

Note:

Please purchase the number of tickets needed for your party to dine together. I.E. Table of 4 would require four tickets in your order.

If you are purchasing your tickets separately than other guests who have already purchased, you can email your seating requests to MStokes@LMRest.com and every effort will be made to have you be seated with your party.

This evening menu will be presented with a focus on steaks and cuts of meat. Due to the nature of this event, we are unable to make modifications to the proposed menus for the evening. If you would like more information or have specific allergies or dietary restrictions, please email MStokes@LMRest.com to inquire.

Meet the Chefs

John Tesar

@chefjohntesar

Top Chef Season 10: Seattle

Current Residency: Dallas, TX

Occupation/Profession: Chef/Partner/Restaurateur, Knife at The Highland Dallas

Three-time James Beard “Best Southwest Chef” semifinalist and Top Chef season 10 contestant John Tesar is known for his stylish, modern American cuisine prepared with classic European techniques, innovative culinary perspective and no-nonsense personality.

Throughout his 20+ years in the restaurant industry, which started in La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in Paris, he has received national nods from Esquire (named for Best New Restaurants for two consecutive years), FOOD & WINE and The New York Times, has made appearances on The Today Show and The Early Show and won the inaugural season of Food Network’s Extreme Chef. Chef Tesar worked in Westhampton, New York and Las Vegas before putting down roots in Dallas in 2007 where he has consulted for the menus at DRG Concepts’ Dallas Chop House and most recently Oak in the Design District, to name a few. Knife at The Highland Dallas is Tesar’s vision of what a contemporary steakhouse should be.

Opened in 2014, the chef-driven restaurant has continued to be recognized for reinventing the steakhouse experience. Most recently Knife’s pimento cheeseburger was featured as Best Burger in Dallas on The 50 Greatest Burgers list for Texas Magazine and Best Steakhouse by D Magazine’s “Best of Big D’s” list. Always looking ahead for the next project, Tesar announced he is working with Flatiron Books and Macmillan on a book, Knife: Modern Steak and All American Meats, that will be published in spring 2017.

Chef Angelo Sosa

Top Chef: Washington, DC and New York

Chef Angelo’s passion for food and quality is contagious, making him a household name in a competitive industry. His culinary work has taken him from 3-star kitchens in Europe to the street-food stalls of Southeast Asia.

A protégé of Jean-George Vongerichten, Angelo has worked with some of the industry’s most renowned restaurateurs, including Alain Ducasse, Stephen Starr and Masaharu Morimoto. He has been a senior or consulting chef for such diverse restaurants as Jean-Georges, Spice Market, Buddakan, and Morimoto in New York, and Le Louis XV in Monaco.

Angelo is familiar to many from his three seasons competing on Top Chef, as well as appearances on numerous other television shows including, HBO Max’s Selena + Chef. Angelo was a founding chef and partner in the Michelin-listed Anejo Restaurants in NY. He has written two cookbooks, Flavor Exposed and Healthy Latin Eating, which drew inspiration from his Dominican heritage. In early 2022, Angelo looks forward to opening a new restaurant, named for his Tia Carmen, at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in Phoenix.

Katsuji Tanabe

Partner Chef and Culinary Innovator, a’Verde Cocina and Tequila Library

@KatsujiTanabe

Top Chef Boston, Mexico, Charleston

Born in Mexico City to Mexican and Japanese parents, Chef Katsuji Tanabe is the Executive Chef
and creative force behind a’Verde in Cary, North Carolina. Like many growing up in Mexico City,
food played an integral part in Katsuji’s upbringing via his family’s table.

Passionate about hospitality from a young age, Katsuji started his restaurant journey as a
dishwasher at a fine-dining catering company. As a Top Chef, NBC Food Fighters, and PBS
Cooking Under Fire alum, as well as Chopped champion (just to name a few), additional stops
along the way included immigrating to the U.S. at the age of 18, working as a pastry chef, and
graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in California.

Always drawing inspiration from other cultures, Katsuji has used his own heritage, travels,
experience, and passions to lead his culinary journey. This includes creating the first-ever Kosher
Mexican restaurant in New York City, serving heritage-inspired dishes while living in Chicago,
working in the fine-dining scene of Los Angeles, and pursuing self-guided work studies in Japan
and fine-dining restaurants across the U.S.

Recently relocated to the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, Katsuji enjoys the bountiful
produce found throughout the region, which helps him carry out his vision for a’Verde, his most
personal project to date.

At a’Verde, Katsuji proudly introduces the South to his unique marriage of Mexican cuisine
alongside the largest tequila library in the region. Utilizing equal parts traditional and modern
flavors and styles, Katsuji presents surprising dishes that lack pretension while delivering
authenticity. Beyond the cuisine and equally important to his vision is the restaurant experience,
where he injects a celebratory atmosphere in a whimsical, yet comfortable space.

While spearheading a’Verde, which is part of the LM Restaurant family, Katsuji proudly serves as
the group’s Culinary Innovator, bringing renewed life and fresh ideas to LM Restaurant’s variety
of restaurants throughout the Southeast.