FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Top Area Chefs to Compete in Thirteenth Annual Cookin’ for Kids Celebrity Chef Cook-Off
Event Benefits Local Non-Profit Kids Who Care Musical Theatre
FORT WORTH, TX – February 10, 2010 – The 13th Annual Cookin’ for Kids, a benefit event featuring Fort Worth’s original celebrity chef cook-off, will be held on Sunday, March 7, 2010 at the River Ranch in the Fort Worth Stockyards. Twelve professional chefs will compete in this year’s Cookin’ for Kids live cook-off showdown. Among the 2010 competitors are chefs from Del Frisco’s, Four Seasons, Reata and Fred’s Texas. Each chef will be assisted by one or more “notable Texans,” including TCU head football coach Gary Patterson, Fort Worth city councilwoman Kathleen Hicks and 2010 Texas State Poet Laureate Karla K. Morton.
Cookin’ for Kids is the single largest fundraising event each year for Kids Who Care, a non-profit musical theatre organization that is dedicated to producing confident, caring and creative kids through musical theatre education, performance and leadership development. All proceeds benefit Kids Who Care and help provide scholarships, youth leadership training and other support that makes Kids Who Care arts education and performances available to families in the community. Tami Morrison is chairperson for this year’s event.
During the evening, top area chefs and notable Texans will team up to support Kids Who Care in a race against the clock to create the evening’s winning plate. With only a basket of surprise ingredients and 2 Bunsen burners, each team creates two plates – one for the judges and another that will be auctioned off to the evening’s highest bidder.
The 2010 Cookin’ for Kids chef lineup is:
• Asdren Albanese - Ruffino’s
• Debra Cantrell - The Savor Chef
• Terry Chandler - Fred’s Texas
• Hui Chuan - Hui Chuan Sushi
• Anthony Felli - Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse
• Mike Hitri – Saint Emilion
• Mario Jasso - El Paseo & Tres Joses
• Sean Merchant - The Covey
• Juan Rodriguez - Reata
• Dennis Shavandy - Central Market, Southlake
• Christof Syre - Four Seasons
• Charles Youts - Classic Café, Southlake
Notable Texans assisting the chefs during the evening’s festivities are:
• Mike Crow - General Manager, Country Legends 92.1 FM
• Richard Dixon - Publisher, Fort Worth Business Press
• Kathleen Hicks - Fort Worth City Council, District 8
• Monica Kintigh, PhD, LPC – Winner of 2009 Auction “You Be the Celebrity Sous Chef”
• Lauri Lawrence - President, Junior League of Fort Worth
• Mark Lowry - Co-Founder, Theatre Jones
• Karla K. Morton - 2010 Texas State Poet Laureate
• Rosa Navejar - Executive Director, Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Gary Patterson - Head Coach, TCU Football
• Van Romans - President, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
• Dalton Sherman - Motivational Speaker
• Ed Smith - Artistic Director, Jubilee Theatre
• Joan Trew - Williams-Trew/Joan Trew Real Estate Services
• Jody Ulich - President, Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County
• Tonya Veasey - President, Open Channels Group
Judges for the evening will be Lou Lambert from Lambert’s; Crystal Willars, editor of Fort Worth Foodie; Laurie James, freelance writer; Nancy Farrar, Farrar Public Relations; Mike Micallef, Reata’s; and Jill Davis, “You Be the Judge” 2009 auction winner.
The evening will feature an amateur chef competition simultaneous to the professional chef cook-off, live entertainment by the Kids Who Care Resident Company, tasting stations from the area’s finest restaurants, plus silent, big board and live auctions.
Amateur chefs competing in the cook-off’s amateur chef category will be Mitch Conditt, DDS with Grant James; Emily McLaughlin, MD; David Donahue, MD; Jim Ogden, sponsored by Craig Strehl; and Joseph and Lisa Vincelli.
Tasting stations that will participate include: BoomerJack’s, Central Market - Fort Worth, Coors, Cuisine for Healing, El Paseo/Tres Joses, Four Seasons, G-Texas Catering, Healthy Solutions, Hoffbrau Steakhouse, Hui Chuan Sushi, Latte Da Dairy, Margarita Express, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen, Ruffino’s, Savor Personal Chef Services, Simply Fondue, The Covey, The Ginger Man, The Pour House, Winslow’s Wine Bar and Z’s Café.
Sponsors for the event include: Ben E. Keith, The Ranch Radio Group/Country Legends 92.1, Fort Worth Business Press, Bank of Texas, Freese and Nichols, Air Castle Mortgage Services, Cuisine for Healing, Laughlin Conveyor Company, V Fine Homes, and Williams-Trew/Joan Trew Real Estate Services.
The 13th Annual Cookin’ for Kids benefit event will take place on Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. at River Ranch, located in the Fort Worth Stockyards at 500 N.E. 23rd Street. Reserved tables of 8 are $1000. Individual tickets are $100 each. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. All proceeds benefit Kids Who Care, a non-profit organization. For more information, please contact 817.737.5437 or Jannice@kidswhocare.org.
About Kids Who Care
Founded in 1989, Kids Who Care is a non-profit international theatre company based in Fort Worth, Texas that seeks to produce confident and creative kids through leadership, musical theatre education and performance. Kids Who Care offers professional musical theatre classes, leadership training, summer musical theatre camps, international cultural exchanges, a touring Resident Company, public performances and more. The Kids Who Care Resident Company has performed Off-Broadway at the Lamb’s Theatre, at both Disney’s, at The Kennedy Center, at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, at 30,000 feet aboard an airplane for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and at many other locations across the U.S. and overseas. The core values of the organization include: excellence in artistic development, artistic integrity of kids, leadership roles for kids, financial and cultural diversity and ensemble production. For more information, please visit
www.kidswhocare.org.
Contact:
Kelly Kirkendoll Shafer
Shafer Communications for Kids Who Care
817.236.6075
kelly@shafercommunications.com
