The Slow Food USA Blog

Sustainable Chefs go to Washington

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Washington D.C. has been buzzing for the past three days, with balls, parties, press conferences, and dinners. 12 chefs from around the country—including sustainable favorites Alice Waters, Rick Bayless, and Dan Barber—headed to Washington and, on Monday night, created 12 fundraising dinners.  Proceeds (estimated at around $100,000) went to three local D.C. groups: D.C. Central Kitchen, Martha’s Table and FreshFarm Markets.

Slow Food USA President Josh Viertel attended one of these Monday night dinners, ate Dan Barber’s food, and talked food and ag with intellectual leaders, writers, and politicians alike.  Viertel asked several of the country’s top chefs what they would do if the Obamas came to their restaurants for dinner and they had the opportunity to speak to the first couple for a brief moment about food.  It seems these guys had their elevator pitches down pat, he said, “their capacity as chefs rivaled only by their lobbying abilities.” The real highlight? Watching a newly-minted administration housing guru proudly flash his Slow Food USA membership card.

You can read more about the event in The Washington Post, and more about the White House’s existing rooftop garden and how Tom Colicchio saved Joan Nathan’s life here.

And finally, a report from the Sunday night trenches from Jorge Luis Hernandez, Terra Madre 2008 delegate and recent graduate (last month!) of the Culinary Institute of America.  He helped prepare the food for Sunday night’s dinner—the big thank you meal for all of the chefs who participated in Monday night’s festivities:

“How do you thank a chef for volunteering to cook a benefit dinner? You might make that chef dinner. What if you want to thank multiple chefs all in one evening?

As a cook at Zaytinya, I had the privilege of helping prepare the feast out in the DC cold, which did not keep the world class chefs from gathering around the spit, eager to tear off the choice cuts of the Jamison Farm lamb.  The next night the chefs would all be cooking special dinners for donors, but on this night they were all able to enjoy the best of DC hospitality.”