When the Slow Food movement took root in Dallas in the spring of 2003, it was a group of nine friends gathered in the kitchen of fellow foodie Timothy Mullner, craving better-tasting foods to cook at home.
“We just started out just wanting to educate our palates,” recalls Mark Monfrey, a founding member of Slow Food Dallas and the co-owner of Artisanal Beverage Co. “We’d try to identify local producers of grass-fed beef, free-range chickens and fresh organic eggs. Once you’ve had those things, you don’t want to go back. But first you’ve got to source them.” Today, the Slow Food Dallas chapter (or “convivium,” as it’s officially called) has 160 active members, including some of Dallas’ top chefs, artisanal food producers, farmers and community-supported agriculturists. It’s affiliated with Slow Food USA, a still-young, 12,000-member grass-roots movement seeking to “unite the growing sustainable food movement and introduce thousands of people to food that is good, clean and fair.”
Some 50,000 people are expected to participate in this country’s first Slow Food Nation event, a gigantic “Woodstock of food” to be held over the long Labor Day weekend in San Francisco. With scheduled events taking place at the Civic Center, Fort Mason Center and beyond, San Franciscans can expect to see the Slow Food emblem – it’s a snail, naturally – everywhere in their city next week.
Paula Lambert, Deep Ellum’s pioneer cheesemaker, will be among a handful of Texans representing the Lone Star State at Slow Food Nation. A number of Texas wineries – including McPherson Cellars, Brennan Vineyards, Inwood Estates and Llano Estacado – also will have their products among the 207 American wines poured at Slow Food Nation’s tastings, even if the winemakers themselves can’t attend.
“We’re trying to get as many Texas products there as possible,” says Mr. Monfrey. “But it’s not easy because of the distance and expense involved.” Since part of Slow Food’s mission considers “how much gasoline it took to get the food here,” even the concept of such a massive gathering is a bit ironic.