Chefs In Shorts Party Pics 2018

The weather was perfect.  The food was better than ever.  And there were a few thousand guests and about fifty Chefs at the annual Chefs In Shorts hosted by the Seaport Hotel and benefiting Future Chefs.  It is the way we kick off the Summer and grilling season every year.  If you didn't make it to the event to sample all the delectable food and drink you can still make a donation to this fine organization that helps urban kids in so many ways: apprenticeships, college scholarships, cooking skills and jobs.  To learn more about them and help the cause please visit here.

Meanwhile, enjoy all the pics and happy faces.

Our annual portrait of Pat and Paul, two of our longest supporters.

Chefs In Shorts 2017 Part I

Last week's Chefs In Shorts event officially kicked off our outdoor grilling season.  Congrats to everyone who participated in this very fun annual event to benefit Future Chefs.  Here is Part I of the party pics featuring all of the restaurant teams who cooked or helped at the event.  Chefs and restaurants are free to copy and share any of the photos and thank you, again, for supporting Future Chefs!  If you don't see your team yet don't worry.  We'll be posting more pics all week as a thank you to all of the restaurants and chefs who are so generous to many charitable organizations, often far more so than food writers and bloggers.  We'd like to challenge the bloggers and writers to more volunteerism and support.  You're not living unless you're giving.

TBF is a proud, longtime supporter of and ambassador for Future Chefs.  If you'd like to help and/or volunteer please DO let us know or contact Future Chefs directly through the link.

Celebrate The Future: Chefs In Shorts 2017

Future Chefs:  Look at all those happy faces.

As many of you know, I was a member of the Advisory Board for Future Chefs, a great organization, for many years and still serve as an Ambassador for them and a mentor for the kids, including alumni.  What they do is give a leg up to urban, often disadvantaged, youth with jobs, guidance, apprenticeships, skills workshops, mentoring and much, much more.  It has been an honor to work with these grateful kids and I have made many lifelong friends here.  Especially in these stressful, uncertain times today it always gives me a lift when I am with them and reassures me that if this is the future then it is bright, indeed.  You can watch the video on the website from their feature on WGBH to really see what happens.

Chefs In Shorts is the event that donates all proceeds to Future Chefs and it is always the highlight of my early summer.  It's taking place at the Seaport Hotel in Boston on Friday, June 23rd and is an excellent way to officially kick off the summer grilling and barbecuing season.  All of the Chefs In Shorts from many of the top restaurants in Boston will be serving up a delicious plate of food for you to sample.  

So, it's not just a way to support this worthy cause.  It is also a very fun night out.  It's a social event where you will make new friends. It's an evening to enjoy some incredible food and drink from many creative, top chefs.  It's a win, win, win for everyone.  Won't you please join me?  This is the 20th Anniversary of the event so it is bound to be a very special night.  You can purchase your tickets here.  It typically sells out so don't wait.  Help us celebrate the future and meet these terrific kids!

As I always like to say:  "You're not living unless you're giving." Please give yourself a great night out while building the next generation and the future food community in Boston.

Chefs In Shorts 2016

(L to R) Carolyn Grimes, Program Director, Michelle Callahan, Director Of Communications and Will Barclay, Operations Coordinator of Future Chefs.

Seriously, who has a better-looking staff than Future Chefs?  It was all hands on deck last night at the Seaport Hotel for the 19th annual Chefs In Shorts event with beautiful weather, the largest crowd ever and dozens of well-known local Chefs, all in shorts. They were grilling and serving up delicious dishes and drinks to over 1,000 attendees, all to benefit the great work that Future Chefs does for disadvantaged, urban students with an avid interest in food and the culinary arts.

The always-gracious Chef Chris Coombs of Deuxave and his crew were there to lend support and feed the crowd at the sold-out event.

Chef's signature dish for the evening was Sumac Pavlova:  Grilled Corn, Candied Lime, Blackberry and Corn Ice Cream, subtle, sweet and superb.  Never had corn ice cream?  It's more like an corn ice dream!  Head on over to Deuxave.

Public Relations star Nicole Kanner and Chef Suzi Maitland of Trina's Starlite Lounge were there, always big supporters of Future Chefs.

Grilled octopus was on the menu at Serafina's serving table.

The Charred Octopus was served with a Yellow Watermelon Gazpacho, Fennel and Pickled Blackberries.  This was one of our top tastes.  Fruity and delicate, the octopus was incredibly tender and that watermelon gazpacho will definitely be on our summer dining-at-home menu.

Pat Keegan and her crew were there, a longtime supporter and Board Member of Future Chefs.  

The annual group photo gathered all of the participating Chefs and the full Future Chefs team.  Look at those smiles!  It also gave way to my new motto:  "You're not living unless you're giving." 

The ladies of Bombay Sapphire proved to be the most popular sip with long lines of guests queuing up for a generous pour.  

And last, but never least, were Future Chefs alumni, and now cooks at Foundry On Elm, Flaviana and Sandro.  As a proud Ambassador and volunteer for Future Chefs words cannot express how gratifying it is to see our family of teens who with the proper guidance, mentoring and apprenticeships, grow into their roles as Chefs and Cooks in so many of Boston's most popular and successful restaurants.  They are the future.  

Thanks to Toni Elka, Executive Director of Future Chefs, The Seaport Hotel and ALL of the participants and people who attended for their support and for enjoying Boston's best kickoff of the summer grilling season. 

For more information on this non-profit organization and the stories of people involved with it please visit the Future Chefs website. You will want to be a part of it.

Twitters:

@FutureChefs

@deuxave

@chefchriscoombs

@trinastarlite

@serafinaboston

@foundryonelm

@SapphireGinUSA

@TheBostonFoodie

Future Chefs Now 2013

I am so proud to be involved in the Boston organization Future Chefs.  This has been a big year for the organization.  This week we celebrated all of our students with friends, supporters, volunteers and families at our new home on Albany Street in the South End.  It's an absolutely beautiful new space where we finally have kitchen facilities, classroom space and offices all under one roof.

The bottom line is that we help a lot of kids who, without us, may not be able to move forward with their education and/or careers and just flounder, victims of a system that lets them slip by.  And they are grateful.  Employers love them for their hard work and responsibility. We teach them skills that help make them employable, assist them in navigating the college application process and support them with mentoring and our best advice.

If you've enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant, a Future Chef nay have helped.  We are in some of the finest in Boston.  If you've had food in your private box at Fenway Park, we're there.  Food trucks?  We're inside them.  If you're looking for young people who have had the opportunity to learn from such renown local Chefs as Chris Douglass, Gordon Hamersley, Michael Levitton, Jody Adams, Tony Maws, Andy Husbands, Will Gilson and many others who have enjoyed giving their time to teaching and working with them then you will see just how surprisingly knowledgeable they are.

We also have a lot of friends, contributors and advisers who work in the food industry:  writers, vendors, purveyors and many community leaders who want to know more about us, contribute financially and volunteer.  Years ago, when I first heard about them, I was looking for a volunteer opportunity.  I had three requirements.  It had to involve the next generation of food professionals, it had to be fun and it had to be really making a difference in people's lives.  As I have said before, it was love at first sight.  When we had the opportunity to move from Waltham to Boston I was all for it at any cost.  I knew the world of opportunities and visibility it would open up for us.

This year we celebrated even more students who worked so hard yo graduate from college, coached them in leadership skills such as the very frightening idea of public speaking and welcomed young students from places we never expected to what is, for some of them, their first comforting, nurturing environment outside the home or at all.  They learn and grow and, yes, even laugh at the slide show of photos taken when they first came to us.  They have changed into such different, better people that it's hard to sometimes remember what they were like.

I believe that every food blogger should have some cause that they believe in that contributes to the community and supports a better life through food.  We enjoy lots of impressive dinners, fancy perks and junkets, rubbing elbows with celebrity Chefs and discovering the latest technology.  I believe we are obligated to give back for this privilege.  The benefits for volunteering with Future Chefs has been a rewarding, emotional experience that I have learned so much from, about myself and others.  It has also been a strong link to a new generation that, as we fade, will rise.  It has constantly reminded me of the importance of gratitude and it has taught all of these really amazing kids not only important values but also introduced them to the idea of their own potential, something many of them have never even considered.  And that is why I love Future Chefs.

Check us out, come and meet us, make a much-needed donation.  I can absolutely promise you that you will not be disappointed.

Chefs In Shorts 2012

Chefs In Shorts is always one of our favorite annual events.  Held at the Seaport Hotel, this year's event was even more meaningful since proceeds from the event were for Future Chefs. As everyone knows, I have been a proud supporter of Future Chefs and all the great work that they do bringing opportunities for learning, mentorships, scholarships and jobs to urban youth. They have been giving a culinary hand up to hundreds of kids in Greater Boston for years now. In full disclosure, I also serve on the Advisory Council to Future Chefs. So, first of all, CONGRATULATIONS!



Over forty Chefs participated this year and joined nearly one thousand visitors who braved a little rain and wind to enjoy a night of limitless tastes and treats. Virtually everyone that I ran into said that this is one of their favorite food events of the year and the weather was not going to deter them.

Isabelle English of Isabelle's CurleyCakes on Charles Street and Toni Elka, Founder and Executive Director of Future Chefs.

Izzy was serving up what I have always said are the best cupcakes in Boston.  My favorite were those Boston Cream Cupcakes you see on the right.

We stopped to chat with Jonathan Soroff of The Improper Bostonian and Rachel Cossar of Foodista On Pointe and the Boston Ballet.

Andy Husbands of Tremont 647 and his team were being assisted by Future Chef Luis Ramos-Tejada of Everett High School.

Andy was serving up this Pork Tenderloin Salad with a delicious smoky/sweet barbecue sauce.

Future Chef Aly Lopez, Toni Elka and Meesh and Jacki from Just Add Cheese. It was really rewarding for me, personally, to finally be able to introduce so many of my food-writing friends to Future Chefs.

Suzi Maitland of the very popular Trina's Starlite Lounge was not only celebrating her birthday but also surrounded by Future Chefs helping her to prepare and serve her dishes. Many of these dedicated students spent the entire day making this annual event another resounding success.

Great night, everybody. Can't wait until next year.