Kicking off the summer benefit season, about 1,000 guests packed Rockefeller Center’s rain-soaked rink area on Monday for Citymeals-on-Wheels' 28th annual Chefs’ Tribute. Billed as a culinary battle between the coasts, this year’s theme, “Rumble at the Rock: NY vs. CA Chef Showdown,” incited some friendly competition among big-name chefs.
“We wanted to focus on U.S.-based chefs this year, and we liked the idea of the dueling coasts since New York and California are looked at as food hubs,” said Beth Shapiro, the executive director of Citymeals-on-Wheels. While the chefs were merely competing for bragging rights, guests did get the opportunity to cast a ballot for the coast that they thought delivered the best overall grub at the event by placing a sticker on a large map flanked by two cardboard cutouts resembling Rock’em Sock’em Robots holding kitchen tools. At the end of the night, New York was declared the winner.
While the planning team was praying that the weather would behave—rainy skies have notoriously threatened to put a damper on the benefit in past years—there was no such luck. But, the raindrops didn’t seem to deter the swarms of hungry event-goers, nor did it hamper the producers who quickly rerouted the entrance inside the Rockefeller Center concourse and rearranged a few of the 33 tasting stations set up around the tented rink area.
The Citymeals special events team once again tapped David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, who decorated the space with bushels of oranges and apples, each state’s iconic fruit. Oversize boxing gloves and a punchbag printed with the event’s logo also played off the showdown theme.
The evening’s theme not only dictated the chefs invited, but also the kind of food they created, with many of the chefs’ dishes spotlighting ingredients or cuisines related to the place they call home. On the New York side, that meant ingredients sourced from the tristate area or modern takes on classic New York deli fare, like Hudson Valley foie gras and Tri-Star strawberry granola with aged balsamic and sorrel from Jean-Georges Vongerichten; lamb pastrami on rye from Marc Forgione of American Cut; and seared Long Island Squid with shaved asparagus, breakfast radish, and herb salad from Antonio Prontelli and Juan Branez of Cucina & Company. The California contingent offered dishes like a sweet corn pancake with Mt. Tam cheese from Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of State Bird Provisions; Santa Barbara shrimp with carrot puree and celery salad from Joachim Splichal of Patina; and California albacore, fennel, tonnato, and semolina lavash from Melissa Perello of Frances.
Beverage chairs Audrey Saunders, owner of the Pegu Club, and Daniel Johnnes, the wine director of the Dinex Group, curated the bar offerings, which included local Long Island varietals and cocktails that incorporated fresh ingredients like apples and cucumbers. Noah Bless and his live band played tunes such as Otis Redding’s “(Sitting On) the Dock of the Bay” and Bobby Short’s “Manhattan.” “We wanted the band to lean toward New York and California thematic songs but without being too corny,” Shapiro said.
The event raised $820,000 for the charity, enough to fund the preparation and hand-delivery of 127,725 meals to homebound, elderly New Yorkers. This year, Citymeals decided to more heavily market its young professionals ticket, a general admission ticket available to people under 40 for $200. “We’ve never really advertised the young professionals ticket before, but it’s something we pushed more aggressively this year,” Shapiro said. “We wanted to give a younger demographic more insight into what we do.”
