The Citymeals Blog

Citymeals Chefs’ Tribute is one of the most surreal events I have ever experienced – seeing months and months of planning culminate in one night under the stars. When I started working at Citymeals and learned that I would be responsible for curating the list of participating chefs I almost fell over. I couldn’t believe I was being entrusted with such a task.

Now I am in the throes of planning my second Tribute – taking place on June 12th with over 40 chefs participating from 10 countries. Since this year’s event is a culinary journey through the Mediterranean I wanted to make sure we had chefs from all over the region who really embody this style of cooking.

While building the chef roster I first made a list of all of the diverse places within the Mediterranean. I spoke to people who are well-traveled and well-fed to see if they had any recommendations. Then I did extensive and specific searches of the top chefs in every Mediterranean location and from across the United States.

We want to make sure that each chef we are reaching out to will bring something different to the table to create a wide-ranging, flavorful tasting experience for guests.

It can take days to track down some chefs, but when we do it’s such a rewarding feeling. They then receive an invitation from Chef Daniel Boulud, our Board Co-President. I would have to say that the process to get a chef to Tribute never ends until the morning after – because, well, it doesn’t!

Once chefs start arriving on the day of the event, I am all theirs – running from station to station to make sure that they have enough culinary volunteers and all the equipment they need. I’m always working to make sure they are as excited to be there, as we are to have them. It’s amazing to see how down to earth they are, despite their amazing reputations.

There is just something about the energy of this special event – between the Rockefeller Center location, the chefs, the music, and the guests. And it feels so incredible to me that it is all happening because of our team.

It is such a gratifying experience to be working on something for so many months and then watch it come to life in such a large-scale way. I’m really excited for this year’s event and the line-up that we have to offer – I hope that people come to experience it firsthand!