2013 Chefs Dinner Benefits Jeff's Kitchen at Hayground School
Top Manhattan and Hamptons chefs were featured at the 2013 Chefs Dinner on Sunday, July 28th at Hayground School in Bridgehampton as a benefit for their Jeff’s Kitchen and the Jeff Salaway Scholarship Fund.
The event, now in its ninth year, included a cocktail party featuring tastings from notable local and Manhattan chefs using locally sourced bounty. More than 200 attended the cocktail party, including Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria, Drew Nieporent, Barefoot Contessa Ina Garten, Eric and Sandra Ripert and celebrity chef Tom Colicchio.
Chefs serving at the cocktail party 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.
The cocktail party featured live music by Lily and the Parlor Tricks 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.
A VIP dinner following the cocktail party was held at the home of Toni Ross, honoring four-star chef Eric Ripert. 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.
The Chefs Dinner series is the primary fundraiser for Bridgehampton’s Hayground School and an annual tribute to the late Jeff Salaway, a widely respected and beloved East End 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.
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.
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