Boudin and Emeril Everywhere

At the Emeril Lagasse Foundation's Boudin, Bourbon and Beer Friday night, Champions Square was pork paradise.

[Updated] Fans of celebrity chefs--whether nationally or locally famous--were made happy Friday night when two tents' worth of chefs from around the South participated in the Emeril Lagasse Foundation's Boudin, Bourbon, and Beer, which had grown big enough to move easily into Champions Square. The event is one of the foundation's two fundraisers, along with Carnivale du Vin, which took place Saturday night. 

It wasn't just a good night for chef-stargazing, though. The food was consistently good, with one of the highlights coming from Hugh Acheson of Empire State South in Atlanta, whose quail with chow-chow vinaigrette was one of the dishes singled out by everybody when asked about the best things they'd eaten. Other impressive dishes: Hogs for the Cause's Becker Hall and Rene Louapre's Indian take on boudin in a fried spring roll wrapper, and Andrea Reusing from Lantern in Chapel Hill's Asian shrimp boudin, though I didn't get to everything, Nor did I try. I overheard someone say, "Start on one side and eat our way through," and I admired the systematic approach, but I preferred the random approach. Here are others' takes on the night.

Updated 8:32 p.m.

The spelling of Hugh Acheson's name has been corrected since the story was published.

Updated November 12, 1:55 p.m.

On November 12, the Emeril Lagasse Foundation announced that between Boudin, Bourbon and Beer, and Carnivale du Vin, it raised $2.25 million. NOCCA will receive $1.5 million of that, $50,000 will go to children's organizations including Covenant House, Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) and Kingsley House., and $250,000 will go to the Orlando Junior Academy in Orlando, Florida.