Dine Out & Help End Childhood Hunger At Taste Of The Nation
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MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – Nobody likes to be hungry which is why some of South Florida's top chefs will be serving up some delicious meals at this week's Taste of the Nation, a major fundraiser for childhood hunger.
CBS4's Lisa Petrillo got a sneak peek and early taste to some of the dishes being served at Thursday's event.
Share Our Strength's Taste of the Nation has been behind the No Kid Hungry campaign for 25 years and the organization is bringing it back to the Loews Miami Beach for the second time.
More than 50 of South Florida's top chefs, and mixologists will be on hand.
Chef John Iatrellis from Lure Fishbar, Chef Steven Rojas of Seagrape Restaurant, and Chef Diego NG of Temple Street Eatery from Fort Lauderdale joined Lisa for her preview.
"We're 3 of 60 chefs from Dade and Broward County. This fundraiser provides for us chefs to come together and raise money for this beautiful organization," explain Chef John.
In the kitchen, Chef Diego made his traditional Korean dish called Bibimbap Rice Bowl.
"It's composed of rice, pickled veggies, marinated sprouts, mushrooms, fried egg, and rib eye steak," said Chef Diego.
Chef John worked with 2 types of oysters.
"Some oysters will be topped with a pineapple salsa, the other a jalapeño ponzu sauce along with shrimp ceviche," he described.
The host chef of the day, Chef Steven, presented a creative appetizer in a mock caviar tin.
"In the bottom I'm doing a foie gras parfait, lemon scented tuna tartar topped with caviar and served with brioche," explained Chef Steve.
It's rare dishes like these that will give guests a chance to sample unique foods.
"It's a culinary travel log from a guest's perspective, where they get to sample what we do at our restaurants for these events," said Chef John.
So what did Taste of the Town's Lisa Petrillo sample first?
It was the caviar tin with tuna and foie gras.
She described it, "the tuna is so fresh, the foie gras is creamy, the caviar is spicy. It's like a sweet dessert appetizer."
Next it was those awesome oysters.
"I feel like I'm in Maine somewhere. It slides down easy. It's awesome oyster," described Lisa.
Finally, it was time to taste Chef Diego's Bibimbap Rice Bowl.
"The meat is tender, the rice is perfect and vegetables have a ton of flavor. This dish transforms you to another country," Lisa said.
Taste of the Nation is on at Loew's Miami Beach Thursday, June 16 from 7pm-10pm.
Tickets start at $125 per person. There is an after party following the event at 10pm.
100 percent of ticket sales from this Taste of the Nation event benefit Share Our Strength's mission to fight and end childhood hunger.
