No Kid Hungry Chicago Chef Campaign

Stephanie in the alley behind Girl & the Goat.

Several weeks ago members of the state legislature gathered at a Chicago elementary school with local media, joined by representatives of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, students, parents, and staff from Share Our Strength and Taste of the Nation Chicago. The gathering marked the launch of No Kid Hungry Illinois, a statewide collaborative effort supported by government, schools, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, and anchored by Share Our Strength. No Kid Hungry, a national program developed to help eliminate childhood hunger by 2015 on a state-by-state level, has the potential to do a heck of a lot of good for hungry children in Illinois—and we're taking this very seriously at Taste of the Nation.

You've seen us post a lot to twitter and Facebook about the "No Kid Hungry Pledge," but maybe you haven't quite understood exactly what that means. It's pretty simple: if you think no child should ever skip a meal or go hungry, you're going to want to take this pledge. Here's what you agree to:

I believe that no child in America should go hungry. By pledging today, I add my voice to the national movement of people committed to ending childhood hunger in America by 2015.

And here's more about No Kid Hungry:

Yes. That's Jeff Bridges, The Dude, working as a spokesperson for this very cause. Pretty effective, right? And that's the very reason we've teamed up with Galdones Photography for our own No Kid Hungry campaign.

Over the next couple of weeks we'll be visiting Chicago kitchens to photograph chefs who have been advocates and supporters for Share Our Strength and Taste of the Nation Chicago. We started with chefs Jared Van Camp (Nellcôte, Old Town Social) and Stephanie Izard (Girl & the Goat), shooting the two of them in the alley behind Stephanie's restaurant. And just like Jeff Bridges, they're encouraging you to take the pledge.

Blake films as Huge shoots Jared.

You'll see these photographs on display at Taste of the Nation this August, and we're internally discussing other means in which they might be used to help drive awareness for this cause. But one of the biggest ways you can help? Take the pledge and share it with friends. So far over 150,000 people have taken the pledge—a great number, but we should be able to get that many people on board just in Chicago alone.

Updates From the Land of Taste

(The Aragon Ballroom won't look anything like this next Thursday...)

Tickets. We're giving them away and you want them. Here's how:

Steve Dolinsky. Steve will be our auctioneer next week—and oh man are there some insane items this year... Paul Kahan and Mindy Segal as your private chefs while you talk music with the guys from Sound Opinions, for one—and all week he's been holding contests on his blog. That ends today. But, your chances to win the tickets aren't up just yet if you can convince him you're the most deserving.

He's asking you a simple question. What would you order off of Stephanie Izard's menu at Girl and the Goat and why, in fifty words or less. That's it. So get to his site, read today's entry, and win those tickets, yeah?

(Via Steph's twitter, this 5 lb. veal belly roast debuted earlier this week)

Gaztro-Wagon. As you must know by now, chefs have been teaming up with naanwich maestro Matt Maroni all week as we quickly approach August 12—less than a week away, mind you—and we're not letting up on bit.

As of right now, we have four more scheduled ride-alongs through next week, starting with Chef Michael Fiorello of Mercat a la Planxa hopping aboard midday tomorrow. Following Michael will be our own Elissa Narrow later that night, and David Carrier from Kith and Kin plus Todd Stein (cibo matto) and Kristine Subido (Wave) will join in early next week. So yeah. We're not letting up—just ask Phil Vettel. He's noticed.

(At the wagon this week for Taste ticket give-aways 

w/ Chef Marianne Sundquist of In Fine Spirits)

Foodie the App. I love this thing. What started as an iPhone exclusive has become, for this Verizon loyalist, an interwebz staple. Building a web site so that any and every one could jump on board with Foodie was plain and simple brilliance—if for no other reason than I get to choose my own prix fixe from Piccolo Sogno while you're forced to stick with the regular menu. That, and I booked a reservation at The Bristol while you had to wait an hour. You know, things like that.

And now they've partnered with us—and I don't think this could be any more painless. All it takes is a reservation. A simple, easy, special laden reservation booked through their system. That. Is. It. Do that, and you're giving yourself a shot at one of two pairs of tickets they'll give away at random next Thursday. You're going out to dinner at some point between now and next Thursday anyway, so why the heck aren't you booking that reservation through Foodie? For more, check out their blog.

See—we like making this easy on you. Happy Friday, and good luck!

Or just buy your tickets, too...