Taste Project’s Arlington restaurant was abuzz with anticipatory chatter last Friday over candle lit tables and yellow rose centerpieces. Hungry guests eagerly glanced over at the service window to see if their main course, pho-mole was ready to serve.
A burst of aromatic Mexican-Vietnamese fusion flavor filled the dining table as the dish reached the guests. The rich, velvety mole was lifted by the fresh herbs and pho spices, creating a complex flavor profile. Served atop the sauce was a juicy seared bison tenderloin topped with crema and sesame seeds. This is the winning dish that helped celebrity chef and Arlington native, Preston Nguyen, win his second World Food Championship title.
“My dad is Vietnamese and my mom is Mexican. And so just combining those two heritages while also growing up in Texas, it’s almost giving me a trifecta of different flavors and cooking techniques,” Nguyen said.
Local residents gathered to have a taste of 23-year-old Nguyen’s world-renowned cooking on Oct. 9 at the Taste Project, a pay-what-you-can nonprofit restaurant in Arlington. Nguyen offered a pop-up fall-inspired five course menu as part of the nonprofit’s Celebrity Chef Dinner Series. The money raised during this series funds Taste Project’s mission to fight food insecurity in the area.
All proceeds from the event go straight to the operations of the restaurant and help future customers pay for their meal. There are three more celebrity chefs like Nguyen who will also offer special pop-up dinners with their own fall-inspired menus to fundraise for the mission of Taste. Spots can be reserved on their website…