Chef’s Keto Tasting Event at CVLTVRA

Several weeks back I had the opportunity to attend a special one-of-a-kind Keto Tasting event at CVLTVRA restaurant located inside The Gabriel Hotel in Downtown Miami. The event was held on December 11th at 6pm and brought some of the finest chefs and locals from all professional backgrounds together for a night filled with delicious food, tasty drinks, and education all to benefit a non-profit organization that is very dear to me, Epilepsy Florida.

There were over seven chefs present that night and each one of them prepared 1-2 unique dishes for each guest to try. Among them were:

• Norman Van Aken – Norman’s
• Brandon Baltzley – Buffalo Jump (Mass)
• Fabian Dipaolo – Cvltvra
• Jeremiah Bullfrog – EatCon
• Kurtis Jantz – Trump International Beach Resort
• Jason & Mel Schoendorfer – Babe’s Meat And Counter
• Sasha Ariel – Madruga Bakery
• James Strine – Trophy Room

Each dish was creatively put together with super fresh and high-quality ingredients (some which I’ve never heard of before) and were presented in such a sophisticated and beautiful manner! I loved how there were so many different combinations of textures and flavors and the fact that I got to repeat the dishes as many times as I wanted! There was not one dish that I did not like because they were all absolutely delicious!!!

If I had to choose my favorites between all of the dishes that I tried I would say that the Short Rib Tagine was my favorite salty dish and the Chocolate Panna Cotta from one of my favorite chefs, Fabian Dipaolo, was without a doubt my favorite dessert! The Panna Cotta was so decadent, creamy, and had the perfect blend of sweet and salty making it most the satisfying and addicting dish of the night that I had to get my hands on more than once!

While the food was one of the main highlights of the night the real purpose behind the event was to help raise awareness about Epilepsy since November was Epilepsy Awareness Month and about the non-profit organization that is spread throughout the State of Florida. The event was not only put together to bring locals together to enjoy some amazing food and drinks but to also help educate and inform the community about the positive health benefits of a Keto diet for those who specifically suffer from Epilepsy. The Keto diet for those who are not familiar with it is a high-fat, adequate-protein, and low-carbohydrate diet that forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates and is extremely beneficial to both children and adults who suffer from epilepsy.

A few general things that I learned about Epilepsy that I thought was pretty interesting were:

• 1 in 26 people will develop Epilepsy in their lifetime
• Epilepsy is NOT contagious
• 400,000 Floridians live with Epilepsy
• Epilepsy is the 4th most common neurological disorder
• Head injuries is one of the lead causes of Epilepsy

Aside from learning about the great benefits of a Keto diet and about the Epilepsy disorder I also learned about the incredible organization behind the event through Epilepsy Florida’s CEO and President, Karen Basha Egozi, who I actually had the privilege and honor to interview and partner up with. The non-profit organization that has been around for over 48 years now works to emotionally support and provide medical and case management care to those individuals affected by epilepsy along with their family members and loved ones. However, one of their biggest roles is going out into the community and educating and teaching individuals how to handle and prevent epilepsy through the use of helmets and other safety approaches along with how to cope with the disorder.

It was honestly such a privilege to have been one of the media partners to help spread the word about this incredible event and to have been able to partner up with this local organization, Epilepsy Florida, that is truly making a difference and impact in the community! Since my husband suffers from Epilepsy and has had it his entire life it was truly a blessing to have partnered up with this organization because not only can I relate to it but I found out about all of the services and support that they provide should my husband and I ever need it in the future. I think that education is so important along with breaking the stigma and ignorance that people have about Epilepsy and that’s why I am so happy and thankful for the organization because they are doing just that!

If you would like to learn more about Epilepsy Florida you can visit: https://www.epilepsyfl.com/

To learn more about CVLTVRA Restaurant or to make reservations you can visit: https://www.cvltvra.com/

** All photos were taken by me **