Photos of the evening captured by Eric Vitale Photography
Year-end Fundraiser, Dinner & Sous Chef Experience.
This past February 10, we launched an innovative new way to engage with our favorite donors and reward them for their generous ongoing support of Wholesome Wave. In the non-profit world, there are donors of all sizes. Larger scale donors have the financial assets to bid on awesome experiences like wine dinners and travel auction items, and often get all the attention and have all the fun. Yet there is an army of donors who give what they can — $10 to $100 — every year, and actually make up a significant block of financial support for the organization, demonstrating a steadfast and constant commitment to helping solve our Nation’s severe nutrition insecurity problem.
We felt that everyone should get some attention and have some fun!
Therefore Wholesome Wave worked in conjunction with Wholesome Crave and Urbani Truffles to create a unique and novel experience to support our “Every Body, Well Fed” year-end campaign. Chefs Maneet Chauhan, Michele Casadei Massari, Christian Petroni, Silvia Barban, Justin Chapple, Rocco Dispirito, JJ Johnson, Roberto Caporuscio, Jacques Torres, Sean Sherman, and Shirley Chung got together to throw a dinner-of-a-lifetime with me, using Wholesome Crave and Urbani Truffle products.
To make this special experience more inclusive, we created a pilot for what now will be known as Wholesome Wave’s Sous Chef Experience. With the help of our friends at Sequence Studios, we created a social outreach campaign, and exclusively offered to our annual army of donors to gain a chance to be our sous chefs for the day.
There were thousands of entries, the response was overwhelming, and four lucky winners got the opportunity to cook with us! Because events of this type are all-day affairs, we split the day into two unique experiences — the evening event which was awarded as an auction item for two competing large scale donors, raising $36,000, and the daytime event where our winning sous chefs worked with us to prepare the evening dinner.
Each sous chef had the opportunity to work side-by-side with some of our country’s most favorite and famous chefs, have photos taken by celebrity food photographer, Eric Vitale, and then be treated to “staff meal,” prepared by them and the favorite celebrity chefs! They came to be part of the buzz and learn some great culinary tricks, and left with more than just having a great time. They left with a great sense of purpose knowing they were part of the change Wholesome Wave strives to make.
Afterwards, we served dinner to the group of 20 representing our big-ticket auction winners in an intimate setting. Me and five of my friends cooked a spectacular six-course dinner using Wholesome Crave and Urbani Products, all prepped by our amazing sous chefs.
We also had a little help from our sponsors: Tito’s, Ca’ del Bosco, Lamole di Lamole, Parmigiano Reggiano, Hedley & Bennett, AeroFarms, Gabagool Media, Waring Empowered, and streamed the dinner via Tastemade.
Justin Chapple’s Jonah Crab Salad with Black Truffle Almonds, Apple, Serrano, Charred Avocado and Carrot-Ginger Aioli
All six courses were devoured, the the wine kept coming, all with great fun and laughter resounding throughout the Urbani Truffle Lab. Yet there was more to come. When ever we throw a party, it’s not uncommon for a couple of our favorite chef friends in the NYC area to stop by and say hello. Jacques Torres was the first to arrive with an array of treats and dessert delicacies he is so known for (the applause from our donors was astounding). Then JJ Johnson rolled up in style, thanked everyone for their continuous support in helping feed those who need it most, and then helped us plate one of the courses!
The hit of the night was dessert, when Rocco Dispirito came to shave truffles on a truffle stracciatella made by my favorite female Italian chef, Silvia Barban. Shirley Chung, a young hot chef (who you may have seen on Tournament of Champions) came to hang towards the end, as well as Sean Sherman, otherwise known as the Sioux Chef, and Wholesome Crave Impact Board member.
I am truly blessed by so many talented, generous friends who fill my heart with their dedication and support for our mission — a mission that truly couldn’t happen without them, and one that will change the world through food.
Are you hungry yet? Do you have a little bit of FOMO? Well, worry not, because I’m happy to announce, there will be more of these events! Congratulations to the team and everyone who made this possible. With everyone’s combined help, we were able to raise nearly $80,000 to bring accessibility to affordable produce to underserved communities.
From the bottom of my heart. Thank you.
