Taste Test

On Thursday night, volunteer servers circulated in the Ravenswood Billboard Factory, offering guests at Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation benefit plated snacks that ranged from sushi rolls to gourmet steak and eggs. "I'm too full, I've tasted everything," one partygoer protested before calling his server back. "Wait," he said. "Is that pork?" 

According to Anna Batcke, field manager at Share Our Strength, the nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing childhood hunger, the fund-raiser's menu had much to do with its success in drawing approximately 600 guests. "Facebook and Twitter were remarkable in driving ticket sales," she said last week. Of the more than 40 local chefs and mixologists who whipped up savory snacks, desserts, or drinks for the walk-around tasting, Batcke said: "so many of them tweeted about what they were going to prepare, it drove a ton of traffic."

Batcke said that the online instruments were also effective in recruiting volunteers for the benefit, which was ultimately staffed by a crew of about 150 culinary students, chefs, and Share Our Strength staffers. "We don't have a lot of paid staff at the event," said Batcke. "We're a volunteer-run platform." Batcke said that about 85 percent of the staff came from responses to Share Our Strength ads on Facebook and Twitter.

The event's pastry chef co-chairs, Mindy Segal and Elissa Narow, also reached out to their contacts in the culinary communities for help; and co-chair R.J. Melman, a partner at Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, "leveraged all kinds of resources from the Lettuce Entertain You network [of restaurants] to help us bring everything together," Batcke said.

To accommodate the dozens of tasting stations at Thursday's event, Batcke and her team arranged for the layout to spread over three levels. "We wanted to reach our [600-guest] attendance goal, but we didn't want the event to feel crowded," she said. "At a food and wine event, you really want guests to feel like they can breathe, enjoy, and relax."

Tasting stations were ultimately arranged by type, with drink stations and savory items—such as Sepia's duck and foie gras ravioli with truffled corn—spread out over the venue's first floor. Upstairs, a dessert lounge offered mini cherry pies on a stick from Hoosier Mama Pie Co. and praline-Frangelico crunch from the Sofitel Chicago. And in a third-floor V.I.P. area, top ticket-holders were treated to lounge seating, a full bar, and DJ-spun music.

Correction: The text has been updated to reflect R.J. Melman's involvement in the event.