Marc Vetri's 11th Annual Great Chefs Event In Philadelphia Warms Our Hearts And Fills Our Bellies
On June 14th, world-renowned chefs and patrons alike dug deep to raise funds for both the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and the Vetri Community Partnership. Chefs worked tirelessly to create new and exciting tapas style dishes and drinks for patrons to taste as they socialized in the hip and beautiful space that is the Urban Outfitters headquarters.
The list of high-profile chefs producing delectable dishes included David Chang of Momofuku Milkbar (and Mind of a Chef, for all you Netflix addicts,) Michael Symon (an Iron chef and co-host of The Chew,) and Robert Irvine (cookbook author and host of Restaurant Impossible). Philly favorites were also present including Greg Vernick of Vernick food & drink, Jose Garces of Volver, Distrito, and Tinto (to name a few,) and, of course, the chef responsible for the success and idea behind the entire night ― Marc Vetri.
One of the favorite dishes of the night included a fall-off-the-bone lamb rib topped with roughly crushed pistachio and sunflower sprouts by Michael's Genuine food & drink of Miami. One of the most interesting, mind-blowing dishes that had all the food lovers nerding out, was the dish by Daikaya of Washington DC.
The genius Ms. Katsuya Fukushima and team constructed an elegant and simple eel/cucumber/wasabi roll on nori, but then blew our collective minds by wrapping each roll in none other than COTTON CANDY for a hint of sweetness.
Lastly, Big Gay Ice Cream of NYC and Philadelphia brought all of the foodies to their yard. The quirky ice cream shop's quite literal take on an ice cream sandwich had us all laughing with our mouths full. Big Gay put whopping scoops of chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream on a hot dog bun – yes, a hot dog bun! The sandwich was seasoned with rainbow sprinkles, while Quint & Petroff's addictive dulce de leche sauce acted as the condiment.
The night was headed by speakers Liz and Jay Scott, the extraordinary couple carrying out their late daughter Alex's dream of finding cures for all types of pediatric cancers. They were followed by a 12 year old cancer survivor who spoke of her childhood riddled with cancer and about how new research has now cured her of her of once incurable cancer.
Following these heart-wrenching speeches, both live and silent auctions took place which raised over $173,000 in under an hour. On top of that, over $23,000 was raised to go directly into Alex's Lemonade Stand Fund a Cure research grants. This remarkable event ― in just one day ― raised over $730,000.
The creativity and generosity of all of the night's participants was clearly a recipe for success.