City Harvest's 'Evening Of Practical Magic' To Honor Chef Marc Murphy

Chef Marc Murphy is the man behind New York's acclaimed Landmarc and Ditch Plains restaurants, and he's also a regular judge on Food Network's Chopped. He's also worked with City Harvest, a nonprofit that works with restaurants to help "rescue" food that would otherwise be thrown away in order to feed the city's hungry, for more than 10 years, and on April 16 he'll be the guest of honor at their annual Evening of Practical Magic, their largest and most elaborate fundraising event of the year.

Held at Cipriani 42nd Street, the event will be hosted by Chopped host Ted Allen, and will bring together chefs, celebrities, corporate leaders, and longstanding donors, and they'll be treated to cocktails, dinner, auctions, and an award ceremony. Tickets start at $500, which will send a chef to the event, and go all the way up to $100,000 for a table of 10, which will help to feed more than 1,000 children for a full year.

Murphy, who is on the organization's board, accepts this honor humbly. "I'm excited about being honored," chef Murphy told us. "At first I was a little reluctant, because there's still a lot more to do. I'm honored that they've honored me, but I want to share this with every chef. It's not talked about often, but chefs here have a huge heart for the city and the country. They donate time, money, food, and make a major commitment to help the less fortunate. I'm sharing this with them."