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Three Chicago-Area Food Events Create One Virtuous Circle
- Bob Benenson
- 35 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Generosity Abounds in My Hometown's Local Food Community
I have written often about the generosity of the Chicago region's culinary community.
I'm grateful that I have gotten to know many leading chefs during my relatively short second career as an advocate for a better food system, and I think it's important to note that virtually all of these connections are results of the chefs' dedication to better-for-people-and-the planet ingredient sourcing or their philanthropic efforts. Often it's both.
And sometimes this generosity creates something of a virtuous circle. Let's start with the photo at the top, shared by Chicago Chefs Cook, a non-profit that since 2022 has staged a series of dinners and tasting events to raise funds for philanthropic and humanitarian causes.
The photo, taken last weekend, is from the Windy City Smokeout, an annual music and food (mostly BBQ) event held outside the United Center arena. The man on the right is Chef D'Andre Carter, who with his wife Heather Bublick owns Soul and Smoke BBQ based in Evanston, Illinois.
D'Andre won the Smokeout's Pit-Master Chef BBQ competition, sponsored by ABC-TV's Good Morning America and Sonny's BBQ (of Chicago). In the photo, he is being handed a symbolic $10,000 check by Southpaw, mascot of the Chicago White Sox baseball team.
But look at the "pay to the order of" line: It's not made out to D'Andre, but rather to Chicago Chefs Cook, to which he donated the full amount of his winnings.
D'Andre and Heather are putting the finishing touches on their first full-service restaurant in Evanston, so it's not like they couldn't have used the money. But they have been engaged with Chicago Chefs Cook since its get-go, and handed the $10,000 off.
The next link in the virtue chain? Chicago Chefs Cook quickly pivoted to create a campaign to support the Texas Restaurant Association's TX Restaurant Relief Fund to assist restaurants destroyed by the catastrophic and deadly flash flooding in the Hill Country outside Austin.
The organization is utilizing D'Andre's gift to match all donations to the Relief Fund up to the $10,000 (while urging donors to continue giving after the match level is reached).
This is just the latest example of how our culinary community extends its generosity across the nation and around the world. Click the first button below to make a donation.
The final link in this chain is much closer to home. Chef Sarah Stegner of Prairie Grass Cafe in the north Chicago suburb of Northbrook is a co-founder of Chicago Chefs Cook. She also has been an early advocate and loyal ally for The Evolved Network, a Chicago non-profit founded by rising-star Chef Sebastian White that that works in schools to provide underprivileged youths with food education, culinary skills and life skills through farm to table experiences.
The Evolved Network and Prairie Grass Cafe again are joining forces next Tuesday evening (July 22) for a fundraising dinner, titled Nourish the Future: A Night of Food and Wellness. The event will take place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the restaurant located at 601 Skokie Blvd. in Northbrook.
If you know Sebastian's background, it is no surprise that mental health is incorporated into his programming; Sebastian is a clinical psychologist who formerly counseled at-risk youths.
The highlight of the night will be a discussion between Sebastian and Ben Shabad, a mental health therapist. And if you find yourself thinking of The Bear, the restaurant-centered hit series on Hulu, when you see him, it's probably because Ben (upper right in the poster above) so resembles star Jeremy Allen White that he won a lookalike contest.
Their discussion will be moderated by Sylvia Perez, television news anchor at Chicago's Fox32.
This family-style dinner will feature dishes by Chef Sarah & Chef George Bumbaris from Prairie Grass Cafe, Chef Sebastian White from the Evolved Kitchen and Garden, and two longtime friends in the Chicago restaurant scene, Chefs Christine Cikowski and Josh Kulp from Honey Butter Fried Chicken.
There are still some tickets available for Tuesday's event. Click the first button below to get yours.