Top Chef 5-Course Dinner + Cocktail Pairings with Shirley Chung

Join us on March 7th, at 6:30pm as we welcome fellow Bravo TV #TopChef Alum, Chef Shirley Chung to our kitchen for a collaborative 5-course interactive dinner and cocktail experience.

Our last event was sold out quickly – and we are thrilled to offer an additional dinner with these esteemed chefs. Join us for an exciting evening of creative dishes, craft cocktails and mingling with Chefs.

The dinner will include 5-courses, each prepared and presented by Katsuji, and Shirley in their signature styles, paired with craft cocktails from a’Verde’s mixologist team.

RESERVATIONS

Make your reservations right now and surprise your friends and family with a night to remember.

Seats are $175 per person* and include a 5-course dinner and cocktail pairings

*Does not include tax and gratuity

Seat reservations can be made on Eventbrite, as a pre-paid deposit towards the dinner of $50 per seat. The balance of ticket price will be charged after dinner service on March 7.

Please purchase the number of tickets needed for your party to dine together. I.E. Table of 4 would require four tickets in your order.

If you are purchasing your tickets separately than other guests who have already purchased, you can email your seating requests to MStokes@LMRest.com and every effort will be made to have you be seated with your party.

Learn More about a’Verde and other upcoming events at aVerdeCary.com

MEET THE CHEFS

Chef Shirley Chung

A native of Beijing, and a proud Chinese-American, Chef Shirley Chung of Ms Chi Cafe brings a playfulness and refinement of flavors to her culinary creations. Shirley immigrated to America at age 17 for college and worked in Silicon Valley before following her passion for food. She attended the California Culinary Academy San Francisco and was trained in classic French, Italian, Latin and Chinese cuisines working with Thomas Keller at Bouchon, Guy Savoy, Mario Batali at Carnevino, and Jose Andres at China Poblano. In 2013, Shirley was a chef contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef series Season 11 New Orleans where she finished in the Top 3 and was invited to compete again in 2016 on Top Chef Season 14 Charleston where she was awarded as the runner up. In 2022, Shirley was a chef competitor on Guy Fieri’s Tournament of Champions on the Food Network. In a partnership with her husband Jimmy Lee, Shirley showcases her Chinese heritage, signature dumplings and progressive Chinese-American cuisine at Ms Chi Cafe in Culver City, CA and on Goldbelly.com. After she served as the inaugural chef of Abernethy’s, a new restaurant concept and chef-driven project at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles, she was invited to be on the board of Music Center Culinary Council. And recently, Shirley, and her colleagues, launched Dumpling Mafia NFT which is the first chef driven NFT on the market, connecting her passions, food and innovations, and building communities bridging food, art and the crypto world.

Shirley’s additional TV appearances include: serving as a chef mentor for HBO MAX show The Big Brunch; regular appearances on Food Network’s Guy’s Grocery Game and Guy’s Ranch Kitchen. Serving as a judge and mentor on Top Chef Amateurs; a judge on Top Chef Family Style; a judge on FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen; and guest chef appearances on the TODAY Show, the Good Dish, Hallmark’s Home & Family Show, Tastemade’s Make This Tonight, Food Network’s The Globe, Food Network’s Big Food Bucket List, Pickler & Ben, The Steve Harvey Show, and more.

Katsuji Tanabe

Partner Chef and Culinary Innovator, a’Verde Cocina and Tequila Library

@KatsujiTanabe

Top Chef Boston, Mexico, Charleston

Born in Mexico City to Mexican and Japanese parents, Chef Katsuji Tanabe is the Executive Chef and creative force behind a’Verde in Cary, North Carolina. Like many growing up in Mexico City, food played an integral part in Katsuji’s upbringing via his family’s table.

Passionate about hospitality from a young age, Katsuji started his restaurant journey as adishwasher at a fine-dining catering company. As a Top Chef, NBC Food Fighters, and PBS

Cooking Under Fire alum, as well as Chopped champion (just to name a few), additional stops along the way included immigrating to the U.S. at the age of 18, working as a pastry chef, and graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in California.

Always drawing inspiration from other cultures, Katsuji has used his own heritage, travels, experience, and passions to lead his culinary journey. This includes creating the first-ever Kosher Mexican restaurant in New York City, serving heritage-inspired dishes while living in Chicago, working in the fine-dining scene of Los Angeles, and pursuing self-guided work studies in Japan and fine-dining restaurants across the U.S.

Recently relocated to the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina, Katsuji enjoys the bountiful produce found throughout the region, which helps him carry out his vision for a’Verde, his mostpersonal project to date.

At a’Verde, Katsuji proudly introduces the South to his unique marriage of Mexican cuisine alongside the largest tequila library in the region. Utilizing equal parts traditional and modern flavors and styles, Katsuji presents surprising dishes that lack pretension while delivering authenticity. Beyond the cuisine and equally important to his vision is the restaurant experience, where he injects a celebratory atmosphere in a whimsical, yet comfortable space.

While spearheading a’Verde, which is part of the LM Restaurant family, Katsuji proudly serves as the group’s Culinary Innovator, bringing renewed life and fresh ideas to LM Restaurant’s variety of restaurants throughout the Southeast.