Art, Soul & Wedded Bliss for Oprah's former Chef Art Smith

We all know that Oprah Winfrey never does anything halfway and it turns out, neither does her former chef. Art Smith, 50, former Winfrey chef and  owner of Art and Soul in the District and Table 52 in Chicago married his partner of ten years Jesus Salgueiro, on August 18 and according to the Washington Post, celebrated in a big way.

Saturday’s day-long event was complete with an 8 a.m. run, a surprise performance by the 10-man a cappella group Straight No Chaser and a 6-hour evening rooftop pool party.

But this isn’t a wedding blog, so of course, you want to hear about the food, right? If Smith being one of the nation’s most celebrated chef’s (he cooked for the Obama family!) wasn’t an indicator that the food would be first rate, listen to what the chef ordered:

At a midday barbecue for 450 people at Art and Soul in the Liaison Hotel, a menu boasted fried chicken, coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans and more than 300 pounds of meat. Yes, you read that correctly.

To fuel the morning run, D.C. chef Carla Hall made homemade granola for 200.

Over the course of the day, guests imbibed more than 35 cases of wine; five cases of vodka; 55 cases of water. At least they stayed hydrated.

Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes” start Duff Goldman commissioned his team to create a nine-tier cake that included layers of white chocolate raspberry, almond amaretto cream and cardamom pistachio.

New York City’s Keste Pizzeria & Vino sent 400 individual pizzas.

600 cupcakes with custom fondant icing arrived from Georgetown Cupcake in flavors including: red velvet, salted caramel, peanut butter fudge and vegan chocolate.

According to the Washington Post, the ever-philanthropic Smith treated the wedding like a giant fundraiser. In lieu of gifts, he and Salgueiro asked for donations to Common Threads, the nonprofit they founded six years ago. The organization attempts to bring children of different backgrounds together through cooking classes and arts programs.