Empower Porter County, a substance abuse initiative of the Porter County Community Foundation, will host their new inaugural event, “Chefs Around the Table,” on Thursday, October 1, 2015, at the Porter County Expo Center in Valparaiso, Ind. The fundraising event will feature 100 gentlemen “chefs” from around Porter County preparing their favorite dish for guests attending the event to sample.
The 100 featured chefs consist of prominent business leaders, elected officials, school superintendents, fire and police officers, as well as other community members throughout Porter County. The men will be competing to win a “Top Chef” award in a variety of categories, including: appetizers, soups/chili, salads, side dish, main dish and dessert. Chefs will be awarded based on the amount of tips they garner in support of their dish. Tips and all other proceeds will be used to further the mission of Empower Porter County.
“The community has jumped behind this idea with great enthusiasm,” said Executive Director Heather Hitz. “We’re very excited to host this new fundraising event unique to the community and can’t wait to see the variety of dishes the chefs come up with. The chefs are a lively, great group and should be a blast to work with.”
The event is open to the public and tickets are on sale now. Individual tickets are $50, but attendees are encouraged to consider purchasing a “reserved” seat table of 8 for $500. Tickets and can be purchased by visiting: www.ChefsAroundTheTable.Eventbrite.com.
In addition to a sampling dinner, guests will also receive a commemorative cookbook with all of the chefs’ recipes included. A live auction is also planned with auctioneer Jonathan Kraft, including items such as Chicago Blackhawk’s glass seat tickets, a week’s stay in a condo in Disney, and a dinner prepared at the winner’s home by a premier chef from Chicago.
The event is being co-chaired by Wes and Sarah Kotys, the Kotys Group. “When we first heard of the idea of Chefs Around the Table, we immediately fell in love with the originality,” said Wes Kotys. “Not only will this be a fun event to partake in, but all the proceeds are supporting a great cause - to help our community combat substance abuse.”
The presenting sponsors for the event include: The Kotys Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Executive Group, Task Force Tips, Sage-Popovich, Inc., Porter Regional Hospital, NIPSCO and Urschel. In addition to sponsoring financially, each of the presenting sponsors has also entered a chef into the competition.
Additional sponsors include: Centier Bank, Horizon Bank, Indiana Beverage, Porter County Community Foundation, Thorgren Industries, Meyers Glaros Group, Ric and Kaye Frataccia, The Times, Kraft Auction Services, Soure Events and D Cohn Communications.