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PHOTOS: Some great chefs gathered for Great Chefs Event
Check out the local and out-of-town foodie celebs who cooked for a good cause Tuesday night. And find out how much a tour of Italy with Marc Vetri fetched at the auction.
PHOTOS: Some great chefs gathered for Great Chefs Event
On Tuesday night at the farthest end of the Urban Outfitters complex, the seventh-annual Vetri Foundation for Children and Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation Great Chefs Event welcomed a sell-out crowd of 1,200 attendees and raised more than $1 million courtesy of ticket sales, sponsorships, donations and auction items. The last one included a multi-day gastro tour for six of Piemonte, Italy, with Jeff Michaud and Marc Vetri that sold for $35,000 and a meal for six with Shake Shack owners Danny Meyer and David Swinghamer that sold for $19,000 to two separate bidders. If that’s what it takes to get through Shake Shack’s long lines, so be it.
Along with handing over cash to Liz and Jay Scott, the proud parents of the late Alexandra “Alex” Scott and co-founders of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, the next best moments of the event came from running into people like Vetri’s fashion-maven mom, Barbara, Eagles’ defensive tackle Mike Patterson and Marc “shut the fuck up” Summers. While Top Chef Jennifer Carroll ran back and forth refilling forks for Tribecca Grill chef/restaurateur Drew Nieporent, the reclusive Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto stood tall behind his glass-enclosed case, waving peace signs and chopping fish.
The other great part of the Great Chefs Event: Eating and drinking everything in sight. In a turnaround from previous Great Chefs Events, there was a dessert-heavy vibe amongst the 50-plus chefs
Hands down, the best item — or at least the most notorious — was Fred Morin’s gluttonous Fois Gras Double Down, a decadent KFC-like delight with gooey fois gras, grilled fois gras and beyond. The Double D somehow gave me a heart attack and resuscitated me at the same time.
April Bloomfield from NYC’s Spotted Pig did a chopped-chicken-liver thing with a slight balsamic drizzle on toast — simple, stark and elegant. The same can be said for Boston’s Jamie Bissonette and his Tripe Chili Brain Bomb. Tripe isn’t for everyone. It is, though, very much for me, and I spent a while trying to get the recipe, to no avail.
There was Jonathon Sawyer (Greenhouse Tavern, Cleveland) and his roasted duck in beef fat, and there was Jonathan Waxman (Barbuto, NYC) and his skirt-steak taco with salsa-picante guacamole. All totalled yum. Lest you think there was only heady, hearty meat at this party, Nancy Silverton’s Ribolita (fried vegetable soup with quail’s egg) was divine.
Regarding those surprising number of chefs who were bearing sweets: James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Solomonov of Zahav fame had the teensiest, sweetest nibble with a cup o’ halvah, rhubarb, strawberry, pistachio and chickpea goodness in a chilled froth. Hell, Antonio Rochetti came all the way from Italy just to serve 1,200 people his Millefoglie of puff pastry, hazelnut and chantilly crème.
Hopefully it was worth the trip for him. It was totally worth it for us.
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- Chef Salad
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