Signature Chefs Auction

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a food writer and the owner of your favorite magazine cook for you? Well, you can find out, because another popular live auction item is Cooking with HERLIFE Magazine!

This month’s column is a little different. It’s about an event near and dear to my heart, the March of Dimes® Signature Chefs Auction. This is my seventh year as the chair of this event, and 2014 will be the second year that Angela Beddoe, the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of HERLIFE Magazine New York, has co-chaired the event with me. We also are delighted to have Rachel Uccellini and Raymond Bryan serve as co-chairs of the honorary committee.

Many of you are familiar with the March of Dimes and the work they do. This event is a benefit for babies and families and will be held Tuesday, October 21, 2014, at 6:00 p.m. at the Canfield Casino, located at historic Congress Park in Saratoga Springs, New York.

This event is best described as Foodie Nirvana! The first hour and a half of the night is filled with restaurants from all over the region offering tasting portions of their signature cuisine. This year the participants include Chianti Il Ristorante, Mingle on the Avenue, Mallozzi’s, The Wine Bar of Saratoga, Gideon Putnam Resort, Javier’s Nuevo Latino, Jaylina’s Cakery and Café, Mazzone Hospitality, The Inn at Erlowest, Orange Mango and Valente’s Restaurant. Some of the chefs serve fan-favorite menu items; others create dishes especially for the event. There is also an opportunity to sample different wines, bourbons and whiskeys from Adirondack Winery and Heaven Hill Distilleries. The second portion of the night is a live auction that features food adventures. In past years, there have been some incredible opportunities to bid on.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a food writer and the owner of your favorite magazine cook for you? Well, you can find out, because another popular live auction item is Cooking with HERLIFE Magazine! Angela and I will come to your home or the location of your choice and cook for you and seven of your friends. We will also pair each course with a delicious wine and our own brand of humor!

The highlight of the evening is the Iron Chef Competition with the secret ingredients, sponsored by King Arthur Flour, in which four of the region’s top chefs go head to head for the title Iron Chef. The chefs are given 30 minutes and three mystery ingredients. They must prepare three dishes, and they must use each of the mystery ingredients at least once. The only cooking equipment they can use is a single burner. Each chef has the opportunity to bring in one large plastic bin of tools and additional ingredients, and may have one assistant. In the past, the chefs have been delighted to find some common, easy-to-work-with items, such as apples or chicken, and have been stumped with items such as wild boar. This year the four chefs who will compete are Chef Fabrizio Bazzani from Chianti, Chef Ryan Huneau from Mallozzi’s, Chef Dominic Colose from The Wine Bar of Saratoga and Chef Brian Bowden from Mingle on the Avenue.

Have you ever wanted to judge an Iron Chef Competition? One of the live auction items is the opportunity to be a judge! Commentary to guide you through the competition will be provided by YNN Cooking At Home host Dan Eaton and yours truly.

The motto of March of Dimes is “working together for stronger, healthier babies.” The Signature Chefs Auction is an opportunity for the community to come out in force to support that mission. We look forward to seeing you there!

For more information or tickets call The March of Dimes at 518-453-0474 or manand@marchofdimes.com.