Meet the Chef for Historic Wagner Farm's Warming Winter Dinner
Historic Wagner Farm will be filling bellies and warming hearts with their Warming Winter Dinner on February 18. The menu showcases products grown and raised on the farm, all cooked to perfection by the Farm’s very own Paula Hamvas.
As Party and Rental Coordinator at Historic Wagner Farm, Hamvas spends her days making sure visitors have incredible experiences when they celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings at the Farm. But come February 18, she’ll use her decades of culinary experience to create a memorable farm-to-table meal.
Hamvas grew up in her family’s restaurant and catering business in upstate New York. “The first restaurant my parents had was a luncheonette inside of a drug store back in the late 1960’s,” Hamvas explained. “I was a short order cook at the age of 12 and could keep up with all of the breakfast orders on busy Sunday mornings.”
As an adult, Hamvas began volunteering her skills at events for her synagogue in St. Louis. “People started asking me to cater their events rather than using the local caterers. Eventually [I] started BSKI Kosher Katering.” One event, in particular, stands out for Hamvas during this time. “I did a synagogue fundraising event honoring the past presidents of the board. There were 300 people attending. I had everything choreographed to the minute, but forgot one thing. I was a past president myself and at some point they needed me to go out for a photo op and presentations. I quickly took off my chef coat, put on a blazer, and ran out to be honored with the rest of the group. I’m sure my hair was a mess and I smelled terrible, but the pictures came out great.”
Hamvas has attended boot camp at the Culinary Institute of America, numerous cake decorating classes, and even a day-long retreat with celebrity Chef James Parker.
Hamvas is the Chef behind Historic Wagner Farm’s popular line of Farm to Table Foods. Her Apple Turnovers, Chicken Pot Pies, and assortment of cakes, all of which utilize the Farm’s fresh produce, have been favorites with visitors to the Farm since she introduced the line of foods last year.
Hamvas’ menu for the Warming Winter Dinner includes roasted tomato soup with mini croque-monsieurs, macaroni and cheese with roasted butternut squash and brown butter sage aioli, honey and lemon glazed roast chicken, chocolate beet lava cake, and many other scrumptious items.
Tickets for the Warming Winter Dinner are available at https://bit.ly/WarmingWinterWagner. Beer and wine are included in the ticket price and all revenue helps support the farm.
