April 08, 2015
On April 26, 2015, 13 chefs from around the Short North Arts District are going to get their art on. The chefs recently toured the District’s galleries to admire the art, which they will be using as inspiration for their dishes at the Ninth Annual Short North Gala, presented by Borror Properties. This year, the Gala talent includes several newcomers that includes chefs from both recently-opened restaurants and long-time favorites, as well as an exciting new taste experience – mixologists. Get in on the collaboration and celebrate the Short North Arts District at this year’s Gala with good food, good drinks, and good art. Click here for more information.
DEVON MORGAN
Pastry Chef at Gallerie Bar & Bistro
Gala dish: Dessert
For the past seven years, Devon Morgan has enjoyed experiencing what the Short North Arts District has to offer. This year, Morgan will get to enjoy a new experience unique to the District at the Short North Gala. “I think that the Gala is a great way to bring people together and experience something new and a different side of [the District],” she said. “It brings the city together.”
Though she’s new to this year’s Gala, Morgan is an established chef in the District, having previously worked a few blocks north of Gallerie as the head baker at Eleni-Christina Bakery. Morgan appreciates the neighborhood’s dedication to supporting local businesses and buying locally-produced goods, which is a similar mindset in her native Portland. “The Short North is a great community,” she said. “It’s got a lot of great local artists and local stores trying to kind of keep everything within the city, which I think is really wonderful. It gives people a place to walk around and check things out.”
It’s no wonder that Morgan was inspired by an abstract city scene hung in the Hilton Downtown Columbus that depicts a brightly-colored alley for her Gala dessert. She said the painting also brought to mind coffee and doughnuts, as well as her favorite pastime in the District – people watching. “The city landscape reminded me of walking to the city and trying to find that perfect spot to sit down and people watch,” she said. “Especially on a warm, sunny day – watching people walk around, enjoying the city, and just enjoying that time together – it’s always a fun thing to watch and experience.”
Morgan also found inspiration in two other brightly-colored abstract paintings in the Hilton, which she loved because of the sense of individuality art expresses. “I can look at a piece of art and see something and feel something, and someone else can see something completely different,” she said. “And I love that art can be individual.” Morgan said the colors in the abstract paintings looked like they were broken up into individual pieces. The paintings gave her the idea to make a Stained Glass Terrine, a cake made of a variety of pieces of homemade jello.
The Ninth Annual Short North Gala, presented by Borror Properties, will be on Sunday, April 26, 2015, at 6:00pm at the Hilton Columbus Downtown. Click here to buy tickets.
– Michelle Gibson