Awesome guests and $4,000 caviar at the legendary champion dinner

Scottie Scheffler's Champions Dinner Menu wasn't what you said two weeks ago Premium cuisine. This assessment is by no means a small amount of cheeseburger slider, Papa Scheff’s meatballs and wonton bites or chocolate chip frying pan cookies (deliable), but more importantly, pointing out that you’re unlikely to find any of these items in the kitchen, such as Noma or le Bernardin.

On the other hand, Nelly Korda's menu? Someone called Michelin!

Corda is not a Masters champion yet, but on Monday night she fulfilled her championship dinner – not at Augusta National but at the club of Houston Carlton Woods, the hosting location for this week’s Chevron Championship, the first major of the LPGA’s season.

Korda won the event a year ago, which means she was responsible for helping curate menus to participate in other recent winners such as Lilia Vu, Jennifer Kupcho and Patty Tavatanakit; experienced champions like three-time champions Amy Alcott (1983, '88 and '91) and Juli Inkster, who won second place in two Chevron titles in 1989 (“It's always fun,” Korda said of Inkster); at least one former secretary of state Rice.

The origins of the Chevron Champions Dinner are blurred. An LPGA media official said the event had “some form” for “years” of dinner, but in 2022 it became more formal when Chevron played the title sponsorship and brought Super Kuf Thomas Keller to oversee the menu. Not only is Keller a highly acclaimed chef—he is the only American-born Curinian who owns two 33-Chapter Star restaurants, he is also an avid golfer. So, yes, he's perfect for the job.

During last year’s dinner, Keller brought together Vu clips to pay tribute to her Vietnamese roots. One star at the performance is a dish made by Vu's mother. Bo Khoit's a delicious beef and vegetables. Vu said of Keller's skills: “I know he's such a goat, so let him do everything he wants to do.”

Korda said she also has a good working relationship with superstar chefs, calling it a “dream come true, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Like VU, Korda also wants her menu to reflect her ancestral lands – in her case, Czechoslovakia, where her parents were hail. So Korda and Keller started working and the results were not disappointing.

The first course features Bigeye Tuna Tartare, which is seasoned with Cucumber, Green Apple and Dill, and Regiis Ova Hybrid Caviar, which comes from the caviar company co-founded by Keller. According to the Regiis Ova website, the Kaluga Hybrid offered by Kaluga Hybrid is “large and strong, with a pure flavor and a pleasant taste”. You can buy 30 grams (about one serving) for $128, or 1,000 grams for larger transactions for $4,000.

Next is the cream of mushroom soup, followed by the main activities: the herb roasted filet beef for American Palace beef, as well as Greek salad, Sacramento Delta white asparagus, garnet yam and glazed mushrooms.

Dessert by Ovocné Knedlíkyis a Czech-style dumpling with berries. “I just love dumplings filled with fruit,” Corda said in Los Angeles last week. “It's almost that. What I've eaten when I grew up.” She said grandmother's recipe “is the best I've ever had,” but it was when she tried Keller's recipe, which paired his version with Vanilla Anglaise.

What is Korda's Dinner Companion's View on the Menu?

It sounds like there are multiple clean plates. After each dish was laid and presented, Corda said her guests were applauding. “Is this caviar or not, the butter of mushroom soup,” she said, “Yes, I'm doing it for you all day.”

Korda said she shared a table with Lexi Thompson (2014 champion), Pernilla Lindberg (2018), Inkster and VU. There were no exciting speeches at the dinner, but the combination of generations of golf greats still produced a lot of jokes and storytelling, Corda said. “You guys have made it never gotten by everyone,” Korda said. “It's such a fun environment.”

As for her own opinion on Keller's handicraft?

“It’s great,” she said. “I was full in the end.”