Austin Hilton’s Mark Dayanandan Critiques Escoffier Society Dinner

Anyone who used to believe that Austin is just a backwater stop on the national food scene had better wake up and smell the café au lait. We’ve had chefs like David Bull of the Driskill, Will Packwood of Cibo, and Tyson Cole of Uchi win prestigious national awards. We’ve had restaurants like Ciola’s win Wine Spectator awards.

And one of our own, Austin Hilton executive chef Mark Dayanandan, has become the critical point man for one of the most famous dinners in the country: the Escoffier Society’s Fall Dinner in New York. Mark has been the society’s resident critic for the past six years. His job is to comment on the efforts of the best chefs from New York and around the world as they cook for the enormously influential gathering at the elite Knickerbocker Club.

As a critic, I can only wince at how difficult it must be to weave honest criticism through a tapestry of the some of the most gigantic egos of the food industry. But Kurt Keller, director of Escoffier, says that “Mark knows his stuff. He can pick the food apart without insulting anyone.”

Now this is one dinner that I would like to attend. Kudos to Chef Mark on his accomplishment.