At the start of Monday’s Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s second annual Chefs in the City event, 200 guests anxiously listened to find out which of 20 award-winning chefs would be cooking a five-course meal at their table. Held at the National Association of Homebuilders' headquarters near Thomas Circle, participating chefs created a menu for 10 guests and designed their own table decor.
Each chef traveled to tableware company and Chefs in the City event sponsor Fortessa Inc.’s outlet store in Sterling, Va., to choose flatware, glassware, and silverware for the event. This is the first year Fortessa has donated tableware for all participating chefs as tableware sponsor. “It’s a great opportunity for them to market to a new demographic of retail buyers and wholesale buyers,” said Michelle Christian, development director for the foundation's D.C. chapter.
Chefs in the City grew this year from 12 chefs at the inaugural event to 20 chefs, including Citronelle's Michel Richard, Erik Bruner-Yang from ramen spot Toki Underground, Kevin Miller from Baltimore catering company Copper Kitchen, Ris Lacoste of RIS and Zentan’s Jaime Montes de Oca Jr. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation plans to keep the event at this size next year. “The success of it was more reliant on the fact that it was more intimate,” Christian said. "You’re actually seated at a table where there’s one chef cooking your whole dinner."
Chefs in the City raised $130,000, surpassing its $75,000 goal as well as last year’s total of $70,000. Fundraising initiatives included $500 individual tickets, full tables for company buyouts, a silent auction, and a live auction with chef David Curley Cornblatt of Curly’s Q BBQ food truck serving as an impromptu auctioneer for items such as a stay at the Ritz-Carlton Destination Club in Jupiter, Fla., and 12 restaurant certificates for a year of date nights.
