Introducing The Authentic Table: A New Kind of Dinner Series

Article by: Janna Tamargo | Photography by Janna Tamargo | Published August 21, 2025

Over the years, I’ve shared countless meals around the world, the kind that stay with you long after the plates are cleared. From street-side grills in Istanbul to Michelin-starred tables in Rome, those dinners weren’t just about what was on the plate. They were about memory, identity, and culture expressed through food.

I first wrote about this on my Substack, reflecting on an idea I had carried with me for years: what if there was a dinner series where chefs weren’t hidden away in the kitchen, but sat at the table, guiding the meal and sharing the stories, people, and places that shaped their cooking?

That idea is now becoming reality.

Introducing The Authentic Table — a new dinner series from AuthenticFood.com. This isn’t a pop-up. It’s not just another ticketed meal. It’s a space to slow down, connect, and experience food in its fullest form: taste, story, and conversation.

And I couldn’t imagine a better place to begin than Jacksonville, the city where I was born. Our inaugural event will take place on September 18, 2025 at Prati Italia, led by Chef Kenny Gilbert, who will be sitting at the table with guests. In kitchen will be local chef and restaurateur Tom Gray — a two-time James Beard Award nominee with many other awards to his name, whose restaurants Prati Italia and Town Hall have helped shape Jacksonville’s dining scene, providing the perfect setting for this intimate gathering. He will preparing a menu curated by Chef Gilbert. To close the evening, dessert and after-dinner offerings will be created by Jacksonville’s own Chef Rebecca Reed, celebrated pastry talent and Food Network Chopped Sweets Champion.

This series is about more than dining. It’s about honoring the people behind the food, the chefs and purveyors who nourish us, inspire us, and connect us to culture in ways both visible and unseen.

Seats for our first dinner are limited. Reserve your spot here.

And if you can’t make it to this one, don’t worry...The Authentic Table is just getting started. Future dinners will bring together chefs and food voices from across the U.S. and around the world.

Sign up here to be the first to hear about what’s next.

I can’t wait to welcome you to the table.

xo,

Janna