Good Food for a Good Cause: Chef’s Best

On June 19th, Food and Friends hosted their 27th annual dinner and auction “Chef’s Best”, a fun night of good food for a good cause. The organization, founded in 1988, delivers specialized meals to individuals suffering from critical illnesses. This year, they will deliver nearly a million meals to 2,600 individuals.

The Chef Chair of the evening was Chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley of Smoked and Stacked, whose table featured duck pastrami with ramp jam on a toasted banquette.

The night’s food spanned the range from delicate salads to seared scallops, sesame noodles to gazpacho. Each side of the ballroom was filled with dozens of tables that featured the chef’s offerings for the night. Let’s not forget the craft cocktails either! My fellow HL contributor and I did our best to taste each and every item prepared – there were 33 chef’s and restaurants featured, so this was no small feat. We’ll spare you the dozens of pictures we snapped, but I’ll share some of our favorites below.

Maketto & Paper Horse – Chef Erik Bruner-Yang – Finishing up plating before the doors open
Smoked and Stacked – Chef Marjorie Meek-Bradley – Duck pastrami with ramp jam on toasted baguette
Momofuku – Chef Tony Kim – Chili mushroom noodles w/ pickled shiitake, sesame, and scallion
Marriott Marquis – Chef Matthew Morrison – Black pepper seared diver scallops, corn cream, fresh peas, and corn shoots
Mason Dixie Biscuit Co – Chef Jason Gehring – Field pea salad w/ roasted peppers & housemade pot cheese w/ a mini biscuit
Q Caterers – Chefs Carlos Cesario & Chihi Yoon – Spanish Meatballs, Empanadas, Lemon Chicken, AND Caprese Salad
Hank’s Pasta Bar – Chef Jaime Montes – Cured egg crostini, sauteed beech mushrooms, arugula, lemon vinaigrette, paprika
Food and Friends – Chef Mark Locrat – Hoisin-braised BBQ pork, Thai peanut slaw, and jalapeno cornbread
BlackSalt Fish Market & Restaurant – Chefs Jeff Gaetjen & Mike Huff – Tomatillo gazpacho, marinated crap, and spiced pepitas
Dessert crafted by Tiffany Maclsaac of Buttercream Bakeshop

In 2016, the 900 attendees of the dinner and auction helped to raise over $860,000 to support Food and Friend’s life-saving food and nutrition services. Other fundraising events throughout the year include Dining Out for Life and Slice of Life.

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