On Sept. 25, restaurants all over New York City came together to help farmers devastated by Hurricane Irene and the subsequent flooding for Dine Out Irene.
For the one-time, citywide event, ICE created a special benefit cooking class called Dine Out Irene: A Tomato Lovers’ Workshop to support local farmers. ICE donated 75% of the proceeds, a total of $1,000, to help benefit local farmers. Funds went to GrowNYC and Just Food, which will distribute the money to devastated farms.
The class was taught by Chef-Instructor Sam Kadko (something of a farmer himself) who celebrated local farmers and their produce. Chef Sam operates a small 400-square-foot organic market garden in New Jersey where he grows a plethora of vegetables for two area chefs. For the class, we celebrated the best of late summer with a variety of tomato dishes such as California Panzanella Salad, Roasted Tomato Soup with Arugula Pesto, Bucatini with Tomato-Basil Sauce and Tomato Tarte Tatin.
