Top Chef Tasting Dinner with Chris Scott and Dakota Weiss

Join us on July 19th, at 6:30pm as we welcome fellow Bravo TV #TopChef Alum, Chef Chris Scott to our kitchen for a collaborative tasting dinner and cocktail experience.

The dinner will include 10 tastings, each prepared and presented by Katsuji, Chris and one other Top Chef soon to be announced. Dishes will be crafted in their signature styles, paired with craft cocktails from a’Verde’s mixologist team.

Reservations

Make your reservations right now as space is limited.

Seats are $175 per person and include a multi-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.

Meet the Chefs

Chef Chris Scott

@ChefChris512

Top Chef Colorado

Founder of the Birdman Pop Up Dinner Series

Chef/Co Founder

Butterfunk Biscuit Company

Chef Ambassador at the Institute of Culinary Education

Author of Homage, Recipes and Stories from an Amish Soul Food Kitchen. Published by Chronicle Books

My relationship with food goes way beyond whipping up something wonderful. To me, food is the connective between individuals. It tells a story, it conveys love, it speaks of lineage and heritage, and it does exactly what the name “restaurant” speaks of.. it restores.

My story is really no different from other chefs. Yes, I’ve cooked in five diamond restaurants, I have over 30 years of professional experience, I’ve staged in high regarded restaurants like Charlie Trotter’s, Lespinasse and Le Bec Fin. I’ve been written up in notable publications like Food and Wine Magazine, The New York Times, Brooklyn Magazine, Elle Japan, and those cute mini mags in the chair pocket of any United Airline flight. But what sets me apart is how I pay respect to the craft and the culture of cooking. I don’t try to upstage the food that I prepare, it is and will always be about the food. I am just someone that holds the torch proudly while I’m still able to do my thing.

I’d say some of the most notable things in my career have been having the platform and the ability to inspire young cooks and individuals across this country. To have hosted several events at the James Beard Foundation including the very first JUNETEENTH DAY event co hosted with other fabulous chefs of color. Just a couple years ago, I finished as a finalist on Bravo TV’s Top Chef season 15, and that experience completely changed my life. Most recently, I finished as the runner up on “The Great Soul Food Cookoff”, produced by the Oprah Winfrey Network. I am currently writing my first cookbook, published by Chronicle Books ( due out in Spring 2022), I also teach at the Institute of Culinary Education here in NYC, and I do TV work for Epicurious, Bon Appetit, Tostitos, Wisconsin Cheese, NFL Sports, Omaha Steaks and other major companies.

If you’ve ever visited any of my 3 restaurants, and soon to be 4, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say that my kitchen table is the most important thing. Nothing else has the ability to bring individuals together to listen and be heard. A place where we can pass along our wisdom from one generation to the next, and where we can “feed” the people with love.

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 in the Southeast.

Dakota Weiss

Chef & Partner – Buttermilk Restaurant Group

@dakotalovesbonemarrow

Top Chef Texas

Like most chefs, Dakota started her career on the line at Mark Miller’s Coyote Café. She spread her wings over the next several years working under world-renowned chefs such as Dean Fering and Bruno Menard. Dakota then arrived in Los Angeles where she was quickly named “Best New Chef” by Angeleno magazine in 2006 as the Executive Chef at Jer- ne at the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey.

In 2011, Dakota appeared on Bravo’s “Top Chef Texas,” while that same year she joined the W Los Angeles as Executive Chef. In 2013 she opened Dakota’s POP Parlor, her own brand of innovative gourmet popcorn—recognized by Food Network as one of the “Top 30 Popcorns to Try in America” and CBS Los Angeles as “Best Popcorn in LA.”

Weiss became one of the most commercially successful women-owned restaurateurs in Southern California as the consulting chef and part owner of Choice’s Sweetfin Poke, a fast-casual concept serving California-inspired Hawaiian soul food that opened in April of 2015 in Santa Monica. Sweetfin gained both local and national recognition and had rapid expansion to 15 locations across Southern California, from 2018 to 2021.

After being diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2021, Dakota and her partner Rich decided to move to Santa Fe, New Mexico to be closer to her family. Dakota took on the role as Executive Chef at the famed Coyote Café. Noticing the lack of fresh seafood restaurants in Santa Fe, Dakota and Rich created the Buttermilk Restaurant Group LLC and opened Catch Santa Fe Poke Co in the Summer of 2022. They quickly followed with the Notorious P.O.K.E (Sawmill Market), Frenchie’s Dips and Tots (Sawmill Market & The Railyard) and Dakota’s Pop Parlor. Weiss aims to expand their quickly growing Restaurant Group to cities such as Denver, Co, Flagstaff, AZ and Austin, TX.

Dakota is one of three Judges on the new show Morimoto’s Sushi Masters on Roku and is always immersing herself in learning new Japanese flavors and techniques. Dakota has been a long-time supporter of the organization No Kid Hungry which works to end childhood hunger in America and served as Chef Co-Chair for two years at the Taste of the Nation which benefitted the organization. Dakota continues to be an advocate and a voice for all Cancer survivors and loves to donate her time and cooking skills to help raise funds and awareness.

On her rare day off, she and her partner love to load their two pups in the car for a hike by the river followed by a visit to a new (pet-friendly) restaurant.