Salon Saloon: Fancy Feast

Salon Saloon hosted their final spring show last night at the Nomad World Pub on Cedar Ave. The theme was all things food, and the gustatory highlight of the night was Chef Chris Olson of Paired preparing homemade sausages throughout the show. Old Man Orville (above) offered a neo-hillbilly / folk sound that provided the night’s musical support. Food-focused local playwright Molly Balcom presented a three-person short play focused on etiquette and its pitfalls; award-bedecked bartender Nicholas Kosevich of Town Talk Diner made a spectacularly lively appearance and demonstrated the right way to make an Old Fashioned.

Host Andy Sturdevant (of South 12th and Heavy Table fame) served as MC, reining in what was often a three-ring circus of sausage-making, conversation, drinking, and singing.

Heavy Table editor James Norton (left), Sturdevant, and Chris Olson talked about making great food from humble ingredients before Olson utilized 25 pounds of meat from Clancey’s and made sausage on stage.

The fresh sausage Olson churned out eventually ended up on the Nomad’s outdoor grill.

Brooke Hajinian worked the grill outside; the final meal included sausage on buns, garlic mashed potatoes with cider gravy, and braised collard greens with bacon.

The occasional flare-up added flavor.

At the end of the evening, a high-spirited Sturdevant commanded Olson and Norton to join him in creating a live-action WPA poster to commemorate the event.