On August 20th, actress Julianne Moore, Top Chef judge and restaurateur Tom Colicchio, and Vanity Fair magazine hosted “What’s On The Table?: An Event to Combat Hunger”. The event raised more than $100,000 to benefit the United Way of New York City’s work to reduce hunger and provide more nutritious food for struggling children, families and seniors.
In addition to Colicchio and Moore, guests included supermodel and filmmaker Christy Turlington Burns,Vanity Fair publisher Edward Menicheschi, director and producer Bart Freundlich, Fern Mallis, Duane Hampton, Louise Grunwald with her son Peter Melhado, Kelly and Jay Sugarman, Fiona Rudin, Gayfryd and Saul Steinberg, Susan and Nick Scopetta, Esther Newberg, Avis and Bruce Richards, Dayssi and Paul Olarte de Kanavos, Charmaine and Carter Burden, and Edward Tyler Nahem. United Way of New York City’s Jennifer Jones Austin, Sr. VP for Community Investors and Kevin Taylor, Sr. VP for Institutional Advancement also attended.
Held at the Sagaponack home of United Way of New York City board member Susan Burden, “What’s On The Table?” emphasized the need for the hungry in New York to have access to free food that is also fresh and nutritious. To that end, Mrs. Burden’s lawn was turned into a piazza of offerings from Tom Colicchio’s restaurants. Chefs from Colicchio and Sons, Craft, Riverpark and Craftsteak prepared gustatory delights using in-season local produce and sources. Among the delicacies were stuffed zucchini blossoms, corn chowder with peeky toe crab, and scallops with smoked tomatoes.

A film clip about hunger in America by Lori Silverbush (Tom Colicchio’s wife) and Kristi Jacobson was shown, underscoring the seriousness of the issue.  One startling statistic is that each day one in five children goes hungry in the United States.

100% of the evening proceeds went to the United Way’s campaign to reduce hunger in New York City. A portion of the funds raised came from an exciting auction presided over by Christie’s Lydia Fenet who sold a surprise item:  a private lunch cooked by Tom Colicchio and Julianne Moore at the bidder’s home.