New Orleanians love their food culture and on Sept. 20, the New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute, fondly known as NOCHI, hosted Cooking for a Cause presented by Hancock Whitney in order to educate the city’s (and beyond) next generation of culinary royalty.
The night’s cuisine was concocted by NOCHI alumni chefs along with local guest chefs Eric Cook of Saint John and Gris-Gris, Josh Williams of The Will & the Way and Meg Bickford of Commander’s Palace.
Among the many items on the menu were biscuit bites with steak and blue cheese sauce, (Erik Hunley, NOCHI alumni); peach brie cheesecake with fennel pollen and poppyseed Benne wafer (Martha Gilreath, NOCHI alumni), rock lobster and plantain tostada (Eric Cook), and “Put Up,” a Louisiana fig preserve and roasted garlic Creole cream cheese on a crispy pork cracklin’ with ripped mint and citrus-sunflower crunch (Meg Bickford).
The online silent auction featured 38 items including one-of-a-kind experiences, private cooking and mixology classes, dinner parties, overnight staycations, all hosted by favorite names in hospitality and other creative realms. The most coveted experience was the “Dinner for Six at Commander’s Palace with Walter Isaacson.” Issacson is the author of “Elon Musk” and other bestsellers. Kaitlyn and Andrew Yeates were the lucky bidders who will enjoy this amazing experience.
Proceeds benefit NOCHI’s flagship culinary, baking and pastry certificate programs and scholarship fund for students seeking a formal culinary education and careers in the hospitality industry.
Event co-chairs were Sarah Newell Usdin and Emery Van Hook Sonnier; honorary co-chairs were Alva and Edgar Chase III, Deborah Augustine Grant and Cary Grant.
