Simon Peragine Attorneys Display Their Culinary Skills for a Good Cause

On Sunday, April 1st, Simon Peragine participated in the 10th Annual New Orleans Bar & Grille, held at the Peristyle at City Park. Organized by the Young Lawyers Section of the New Orleans Bar Association, the N.O. Bar & Grille helps raise funds for Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, a non-profit corporation that serves individuals and families through the assistance of legal services. The event includes both a silent auction and law firm cooking competition among nearly 20 local law firms, with celebrity judges deciding the winners.

Attorneys Josh M. Hudson, Megan S. Peterson, and Peter Thriffiley Jr. served as head chefs for the Simon Peragine team. Many other members and staff from the firm were on hand to assist and offer support, although some sampled more of the team’s product than they served to the attendees. The Simon Peragine team entered two dishes into the competition, both of which involved a local spin on a classic Italian dish.

For a savory course, the team served a “De-Constructed Steak Florentine Po-Boy”: thinly sliced grilled beef tenderloin atop a round of crusty French bread finished with truffle oil aioli and flash fried sage and rosemary. In the dessert category, amateur pastry chef Megan Peterson created the “Ponchatoula Italiano.” Constructed in layers to resemble the Italian flag, this colorful dessert featured a base of sliced Ponchatoula strawberries macerated in sugar and balsamic vinegar, a center layer of crumbled white almond cake, and a crown of freshly whipped cream enriched with mascarpone cheese and infused with chopped basil.

Both the Steak Florentine Po-Boy and the Ponchatoula Italiano were met with rave reviews from the crowds which packed the Peristyle. Unfortunately, the Simon Peragine team fell just short in the awards category, returning back to the office on Monday with only a collective sunburn and the satisfaction which comes from supporting such a worthy cause. The firm is proud to have participated in an event that brought together the legal community to support those in need and look forward to competing again next year.