Good food, a good cause and a beautiful space…what more could one desire in a dining experience? Join our friends at the new Astor Center education space to enjoy a farm-driven meal created by restaurant luminary Michael Anthony (Gramercy Tavern) and cookbook maven, Peter Kaminsky. The menu reads like a locavore’s lullaby…

- Sheldon Farms Potato Chips
- Witenagemot Farm Butternut Squash Samosas with Cardamom Yogurt
- Open Faced Mini Manx Station Beef Burgers, House Made Buns and Roasted Organic Tomato Relish
- Witenagemot Farm Blue Corn Crackers and Nettle Meadow Goat Cheese Canapé
- Sheldon Farms Potato Pancakes with Saratoga Apple-Onion Rose Compote
- Celery and smoked Mountain View Farms Bacon custard with crispy Adirondack Red Potatoes and toasted almonds
- Mosaic of Mountain View Farms Chicken and Turnips with housed cured pancetta and Austrian Crescent potato salad
- Mountain View Farms Cotechino with pistachio, onion marmalade and shingled Eva potatoes
- Braised Manx Station Beef with roasted La Ratte potatoes, “black dirt” carrots and leeks
- Consider Bardwell Farmstead Cheese Selection
- Maple Syrup glazed Mountain View Farms Ham, French Toast and Apples

For tickets, click here.

Thanks to our friends at the Southern Foodways Alliance, we found out about this upcoming event at Lincoln Center, Rebuilding New Orleans in New York City.

With the city’s struggle for stability still an everyday reality, what better way to put that holiday bonus to good use. Enjoy the sounds and tastes of New Orleans while supporting the media leaders committed to covering the post-Katrina successes and failures.

“Preservation is a cornerstone of building and nurturing a sustainable community. The work of the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans is a model for the country and, in the wake of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, it is among the most compelling examples of sound stewardship of resources.”

–Al Gore

Congratulations to Viviana Acosta-Padial, CulinaryCorps alum and trip co-leader, for being the WOSO VIP of the Day.  Her culinary-focused interview was played by the Puerto Rican radio station throughout the day, reaching thousands of island listeners.  A wonderful way to recognize an amazing volunteer and chef!

It has been amazing to watch CulinaryCorps alumni continue to make strides long-after they have returned home from their trip.

March participants and long-time Manhattan residents, Angela S. and April N., have recently moved to New Orleans after falling hard for the magical city during their CulinaryCorps tenure. April recently nabbed a position working with NOLA Edible Schoolyard while Angela will be reporting each day to Emeril’s Homebase as the newest edition to their test kitchen team. By weaving themselves into the fabric of the community, they hope to become an integral part of the city’s rebirth. We wish them luck and look forward to catching up over Sazeracs in September.

Another March participant, Amy T., has proved that good will can be executed from afar as her recent fundraising effort in Coshocton, Ohio raised $475 for Emergency Communities. She successfully converted the bake sale donations into gift certificates to The Cresecent City Farmers Market, allowing EC to fill their larder with farm fresh foods as well as support an important aspect of their local economy. Special thanks to Auer Ace Hardware, The Coshocton Brown’s Backers and all the generous bakers who donated their time and goods.

It has been said that ideas are many but execution is precious. These three amazing cooks have proven that when your heart backs your actions, good things will follow. Thanks to Angela, April and Amy for their commitment to CulinaryCorps, and more importantly, their tremendous dedication to New Orleans.

Food From New York: Creating a tasty local economy.

The Geoffrey Roberts Award:   Supporting individuals with culinary vision.  (CulinaryCorps was honored to be one of this year’s “small grant” recipients.)

Small Axe Farms: “Deepening grass roots in New Orleans.”

Although they hail from California, Blue Bottle Coffee has created a useful gift package to benefit the New Orleans Edible Schoolyard project.  For $22.50, you can be that master of your own iced coffee destiny as Blue Bottle has put together a handy “do-it-yourself” kit that includes coffee, a separate chicory packet and instructions on the cold brew process.  10% of the proceeds will be donated so drink up for New Orleans!

Sometimes it’s nice to know that tasty innovation is happening all around us.

We would certainly love to see the community bread ovens at Dufferin Grove Park in action…

Or peek into a kitchen classroom at Koto Hanoi…

Or sample a sweet and sweetly decorated treat from the  Sweet Things Bake Shop powered by the Lower Eastside Girls Club.

To everyone involved in these projects…keep up the amazing and inspiring work!

We just arrived in NOLA today and found this lovely article waiting on the front page of the Living Section.

Many thanks to Judy Walker for taking the time to get to know us during the March trip. We intend to live up to every word this second time around!

Kiva, an on-line microfinance site, allows individuals to contribute small sums of money to entrepenuers in the developing world.  An easy-to-use search function allows you to view food-related businesses, and for as little as $25, you can support a rice farmer in Cambodia, a butcher in Ghana or a “ice cake” maker in Samoa.

To date, Kiva has collected over $6 million from 60,000 individuals, impacting the lives of entrepeneurs in dozens of developing countries.

A vital piece of the CulinaryCorps mission is to help preserve the culinary heritage of a community through equal parts service and education.  We believe food plays an instrumental role in keeping a community thriving. Kiva helps to safeguard culinary traditions directly by financially supporting the families running the food stands, market stalls and small farms that make their communities so vibrantly unique.

To watch a New York Time video on the organization, click here.  And for all those summer weddings on the horizon, sometimes it’s nice to know you have a gift option that pairs well with anything on a Crate and Barrel registry.

Most Sundays are frittered away on comfort food and hangover cures but why not make those two priorities work for a great cause?  Andrea Strong of the Strong Buzz is once again launching Dining For Darfur across the nation on April 29th.  Participating restuarants will donate five percent  of their sales that day, creating necessary funding for humanitarian relief work in the war-ravaged state of Darfur.

Good food.  A great cause.  Make your reservations today.