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The Perilla Team and Their beautiful Samples. Photo: Courtesy of Shahar Azran
Last night at Bowery Hotel, some of New York’s top chefs and The Doe Fund’s “men in blue” collaborated to create an amazing sampling smorgasbord for attendees. The Doe Fund and Sweet: New York’s event served to highlight the charity and provide guests with samples of amazing food from restaurants all over the city.
The Doe Fund, founded in 1985, strives to help homeless and formerly incarcerated individuals achieve self-sufficiency through innovative education programs and business ventures. Through their work program Ready, Willing & Able, they provide trainees or “The Men in Blue,” named for their distinctive blue uniforms, with paid work, job training and housing. The fund’s kitchens also provide meals to trainees and serve as a training ground for those who aspire to enter the culinary arts field. Once they finish training, gradates of the program go on to various career paths, designed to ensure they have savings and a lifetime of income.
Actor, Catherine Curtin and “The Men in Blue.” Photo: Courtesy of Shahar Azran
Since many of the trainees go on to pursue culinary arts careers, they dawned their chef’s whites and worked alongside top culinary figures to serve delicious samples to event attendees. Several film and television figures were also in attendance including Orange is the New Black actresses Selenis Leyva, Abigail Savage and Catherine Curtain; The Hunger Games’ Alan Ritchson, and Die Hard 2’s John Amos. The restaurant samples included everything from wonton tacos from Tao to mini Magnolia Bakery cupcakes, accompanied by liquor samples from brands like Espolón Tequila and Spud Vodka. Along with the ambiance of the Bowery Hotel, the culminating attributes made for a beautiful night that successfully reflected the progress of the Doe Fund.
-by Johanna Silver