The 2013 CHEFS DINNER & MEET THE CHEFS COCKTAILS AND TASTINGS PARTY
BENEFITTING JEFF’S KITCHEN AT THE HAYGROUND SCHOOL

Top Manhattan and Hamptons chefs were featured at the 2013 Chefs Dinner www.greatchefsdinner.com on Sunday, July 28th at Hayground School’s campus in Bridgehampton as a benefit for Hayground School’s Jeff’s Kitchen and the Jeff Salaway Scholarship Fund. The event, now in its ninth year, is KDH and Doc’s favorite foodie moment of the summer, including a cocktail party featuring notable Manhattan chefs as well as top local chefs preparing tastings using local bounty.

The cocktail party was attended by over 200 people, which included: Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria, Drew Nieporent, Ina Garten, Eric and Sandra Ripert and Tom Colicchio. Chefs at the cocktail party [pictured here] who featured tastings included: Josh Capon (Lure Fish Bar); Arjun Achuthan (Hayground School), Ty Kotz (Topping Rose House), Bryan Futerman (Foody’s); Joel Hough (Il Bucco), Jason Weiner (Almond), Matt Michel (Rolling in Dough Pizza); Joe Realmuto (Nick & Toni’s), Davie Simmons (Uptown Juice Bar), Cheryl Stair (Art of Eating), Lia Fallon (The RiverheadProject) and Christian Mir (Stone Creek Inn). Product also providing tastings included Kona-Ice, Blue Parrot, ZICO Pure Premium Coconut Water, VerTerra, PLAIN-T, D’Artagnan, Ms. Michelle’s Urban Gourmet, Good Water Farm/Vines & Branches, Invincible Summer Farm, Xante, Montauk Beverage, Pure Cool, Uptown Juice Bar, Greenport Brewing Company, Crystal Head Vodka, Wolffer Vineyards, Channing Daughters Winery, Diplomatico Rum, Nestle Waters/San Pellegrino and Shaw-Ross International Importers.

KDH feasted at the event with my longtime foodie friend, and lifestyle expert & writer, Martha McCully. We each had a favorite dish at the tasting tent. Mine? The organic beet risotto from Top Chef Tom Colicchio’s new restaurant Topping Rose [above], and Martha loved the Panna Cotta with with sweet peppers, micro greens, and bacon by chef Joe Realmuto of Nick & Toni’s [below].  Martha shares, “I don’t really eat meat.  Luckily, bacon is a completely different food group to me ~ so that’s OK!”

The cocktail party featured live music by Lily and the Parlor Tricks [below] and a silent art auction featuring renowned artists. Demonstrations took place in the newly expanded Jeff’s Kitchen by TV host and chef George Hirsch, Aesop Skin Care, Narragansett Creamery and P and H Soda Syrups.

An intimate Wine Dinner at the home of Toni Ross honoring four-star chef Eric Ripert followed the tasting party. The four-course dinner, paired with wines by Aldo Sohm (Sommelier – Le Bernardin), was prepared by Claudia Fleming (North Fork Table and Inn), Justin Smillie (Il Bucco Alimentari e Vineria), Michael Cavaniola (Cavaniola’s Gourmet Cheese Shop), Kerry Heffernan (Finalist “Top Chef Masters” season 4); Marc Murphy (Benchmarc Restaurants), Steffan Karlsson (Fond- Gothenburg, Sweden) and Taku Sato (Nobu57). Products from D’Artagnan and Fishers Island Oysters were also featured. A portion of the produce used in sit down dinner was sourced from Hayground School’s Slow Foods Greenhouse.  There was also a live auction following the dinner featuring exclusive culinary and travel packages.

Brendan Davison of Good Water Farm [above, below] partnered up with Vines & Branches to deliver farm fresh micro greens drizzled with delicious oils and vinegars.

The Chefs Dinner series is the primary fundraiser for Bridgehampton’s own Hayground School (www.haygroundschool.org) and an annual tribute to the late Jeff Salaway, a widely respected and beloved restaurateur and one of the school’s co-founders.  Since it’s inception, this event has raised over $1,000,000 for Jeff’s Kitchen and the Jeff Salaway Scholarship Fund.  Toni Ross, who was also the late Salaway’s wife says, “Jeff believed that the growing, preparation and sharing of food is a primal human experience and the foundation of family and community.”

Jeff’s Kitchen is a full service professional kitchen and classroom fitted with top-of-the-line Viking appliances and a new pizza oven. Classes in nutrition, food science and cooking are held there for both children and adults.  Completing the facility, recently a professional Farmtek greenhouse was erected by Hayground students, staff and friends with funds provided by Slow Food.

About the Hayground School:
Hayground School is an independent alternative school, committed to a program of innovation in a community of diversity, both economical and cultural. Hayground students range from 3-13 years of age. The mission at Hayground is to provide an open, community school where conventional teaching methods are replaced by new ways of teaching and learning. We work to give our students the tools, perseverance and determination to be independent thinkers and continue learning throughout their lives.

*ALL PHOTOS IN THIS FEATURE BY KELLI DELANEY KOT FOR KDHAMPTONS.COM