DREAM DEFERRED


A


When it comes to authentic Texas cooking, TOM PERINI is the bell cow. But his ambition to cook for the White House was disrupted by a national nightmare.


by MARGARET HOOGSTRA ON A SUNNY MONDAY AFTERNOON IN 2001,


Tom Perini and his catering staff were working feverishly to prepare the kind of meal that changes careers. Four months earlier, Perini had been tasked with bringing his signature taste of Texas to an audience representative of the entire nation.


It was a challenge Perini had


dreamed of ever since he started cooking in a chuck wagon. And sure, the Abilene native was no stranger to his food reach- ing an international audience — custom- ers have traveled from as far away as Japan to get a taste of the Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap, which sits about 15 miles southwest of Abilene — but this catering job was different. For starters, Perini and his crew were cooking for 1,400 people. At a pic-


nic. From their signature chuck wagons. On a lawn precisely 1,523 miles from his cozy joint in Buffalo Gap.


Oh, and they were feeding the president of the United States of America.


Perini was catering the annual Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House for a guest list that also included the first lady, vice president and every senator and representative from Congress. Those were the stakes, and Perini was up for the challenge.


SPRING 2016 37


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