Guy Fieri’s Cooking with Best Buddies Event Featuring Celeb Chefs and Buddy Sous Chefs Returns to New England to Support Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Boston, Massachusetts May 22, 2017 – Best Buddies International, a nonprofit dedicated to creating opportunities for friendship, employment and leadership training for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), is excited to announce its 2nd Annual Guy Cooking with Best Buddies Celebrity Chef Food and Wine Festival presented by Pepsi-Cola and Shaw’s Foundation and Star Market Foundation. This event will take place June 2, 2017 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm at Harvard University. This will be an incredible culinary festival featuring over 30 chefs from top local restaurants providing delectable food tastings and a variety of complimentary wine and beer options. Guy Fieri will serve as the official headliner. Honorary Co-Chairs Tom Brady and Congressman Joe P. Kennedy III will participate as well.
“I have always been committed to teaching life skills in the culinary arts with my Cooking With Kids Foundation, which is not just about ingredients, recipes and cooking, but is also about harnessing imagination, empowerment, and creativity. I am truly excited to partner with Best Buddies to help empower their Jobs program participants to gain culinary employment skills,” said Guy Fieri. “I have a personal connection to Best Buddies’ cause through my cousin, and I look forward to building partnership between Cooking With Kids and Best Buddies in order to make a difference in the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
Guy Cooking with Best Buddies Celebrity Chef Food and Wine Festival provides a unique opportunity for guests to indulge in top culinary dishes and exquisite wines and all for a great cause. Steve DiFillippo, founder of the world-famous Davio’s Restaurant Group and inductee to the Massachusetts Restaurant Hall of Fame, and Chef Allen Campbell – The Progressive Modern Chef.
Additional culinary chefs scheduled to attend include:
- Edward Allen – Foxwoods Resort Casino
- Pedro Avila – David Burke Prime
- Farouk Bazoune – STRIP by Strega
- Brendan Burke –Serafina Boston
- Alberto Cabre – Casa B
- Allen Campbell –Chef/Author
- Joe Cassinelli –Osteria Posto
- Joanne Chang –Flour Bakery + Cafe
- Tony DiCenso – Rino’s Place
- Robert Differ– Mandarin Oriental/ Bar Boulud Boston
- Jay Hajj – Mike’s City Diner
- Franck Iglesias –Cake by Franck
- Kevin Long – Red Lantern & Scorpion Bar
- Dante de Magistris – Restaurant dante/ il Casale
- Paul Malvone – Boston Burger Company
- Brian Mercury – Oak & Rowan
- Lynette Mosher –Mercy Tavern
- Rodney Murillo – Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse
- Brian Poe – The Tip Tap Room
- Philip Schein –Fazenda Coffee Roasters
- Michael Schlow –Doretta Taverna & Raw Bar, Tico Boston & Alta Strada Wellesley
- Rich Vallante – Legal Sea Foods
Guests interested in attending Guy Cooking with Best Buddies Celebrity Chef Food and Wine Festival must purchase a separate ticket for this event. However, if you are one of the participants in the Best Buddies Challenge: Hyannis Port, entrance into the festival is included. Please visit www.gcwbb.org for more ticket information.
Each guest will also receive complimentary tickets to the Tom Brady Football Challenge to enjoy a celebrity touch football game with New England Patriots players Tom Brady and Julian Edelman, Olympian Carl Lewis, Actors Jason Lewis and Charlotte McKinney; Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy, III; Miss USA 2017 Kára McCullough, Miss Teen USA 2016 Karlie Hay, Governor Charlie Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh at Harvard Stadium.
The Best Buddies Challenge weekend continues on Saturday, June 3, when hundreds of cyclists, including professional cyclist George Hincapie will take the starting line at Santander Bank on Columbia Point in Dorchester for the picturesque 100-mile ride portion of the Best Buddies Challenge: Hyannis Port, from Boston to Hyannis Port. The Challenge is open to participants of all ages and abilities and is designed to showcase the Best Buddies mission in action. It also features alternative 50 and 20-mile cycling routes, as well as the Carl Lewis Challenge, a 5K run or walk.
The Challenge will be capped off by a New England-style clambake and private concert by the legendary Joan Jett and the Blackhearts which all participants and special guests are invited to attend.
This year’s Challenge sponsors include: Presenting Sponsors Pepsi-Cola, The Official Beverage of the Best Buddies Challenges, and Shaw’s Foundation and Star Market Foundation; Hyannis Port Club Sponsors Bacardi, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Bob’s Discount Furniture, ChefWorks, E & J Gallo Winery, Foxwoods Resort Casino, Greenberg Traurig, Hublot, Jack’s Abby craft brewery, Seyfarth Shaw, Santander Bank, The TJX Companies, Inc; Cape Club Sponsors Chobani, CVS Health, The GEO Group Foundation, John Hancock, Klingman & Associates, Natixis Global Asset Management; Craigville Beach Club Sponsors Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, BNY Mellon, Celebrity Cruises, Cold Stone Creamery, Cooking with Kids Foundation, Crescent Capital Group, Eaton Vance Management, Makarov Foundation, Mark Edward Partners, MidState Auto, Pilot Freight Services, RAI Services Company, Joe Shay, Jr., Teddie Peanut Butter, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Volvo, Wells Fargo, BMC, and Media Sponsors Boston Business Journal, CBS Radio/98.5 The Sports Hub, WHDH/Channel 7 and 90.9 WBUR.
ABOUT BEST BUDDIES INTERNATIONAL:
Best Buddies® is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver, Best Buddies is a vibrant organization that has grown from one original chapter to more than 2,300 middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. Today, Best Buddies’ eight formal programs — Middle Schools, High Schools, Colleges, Citizens, e-Buddies® , Jobs, Ambassadors, and Promoters — engage participants in each of the 50 states and in over 50 countries, positively impacting the lives of more than 1.1 million people with and without disabilities around the world. In many cases, as a result of their involvement with Best Buddies, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities secure rewarding jobs, live on their own, become inspirational leaders, and make lifelong friendships. For more information, please visit www.bestbuddies.org, facebook.com/bestbuddies or twitter.com/bestbuddies.
Contact Information:
For media inquiries (including requests for credentials):
Nicole Maddox
305-374-2233 ext. 343
NicoleMaddox@bestbuddies.org
Madari Pendas
305-374-2233 ext. 203
MadariPendas@bestbuddies.org
###