Garces Family Foundation Launching With A Big Party


As if he wasn’t busy enough with his Frohman’s-Wursthaus-canceling and plans for worldwide culinary domination, Jose Garces is now throwing his weight behind a new charity organization called the Garces Family Foundation–an organization founded by our own Iron Chef and his wife, Dr. Beatriz Garces, and committed to helping Philadelphia’s growing immigrant population.

The GFF has plans for building a community center in Phily, complete with a medical/dental office, a fitness and nutrition center, an after school program with tutoring support for grammar school children, and a place to provide adults with English lessons. In order to do so, they will be partnering with Puentes de Salud–a non-profit dedicated to promoting health and wellness among South Philly’s growing Latino population–in order to provide medical care to the uninsured immigrant community (which means a lot of cooks). But before they can do any of this, the GFF needs to raise a little (read: a lot) of money. And the best way they know to do that? With a big-ass party…

On Wednesday, October 10, the Garces Family Foundation will be holding their launch event at the Kimmel Center with Puentes de Salud’s co-founder and executive director, Dr. Steven Larson, being the event’s honoree.

The party will be divided into two parts. First, there’s the VIP event (held at the Kimmel Center’s new rooftop garden at 7pm), which will bring together a bunch of chef’s representing “Philadelphia’s international culinary talent.” The list includes such big names as Marc Vetri and Jeff Michaud (Vetri, Alla Spina, Amis, Osteria), Michael Solomonov (Zahav), Kevin Sbraga (Sbraga), Jonathan Adams (Pub and Kitchen), Sylva Senat (Tashan), Tim Spinner (Cantina Feliz/La Calaca Feliz), Hiroyuki “Zama” Tanaka (Zama), Konstantinos Pitsillides (Kanella), Mike Stollenwerk (Fish), David Gilberg and Carla Goncalves (Koo Zee Doo), Joey Baldino (Zeppoli), Michael Schulson (Sampan, Izakaya), Terence Feury (Tavro 13) and Pierre Calmels (Bibou), and each of the chefs will be preparing a dinner course or a passed appetizer for the party. And while yes, the ticket price for this is steep ($5,000 and up, basically for sponsors of the new Garces Family Foundation), that price also covers a special preview party at Revel in A.C. on August 3 and tickets to the Gipsy Kings concert that night, in addition to the chance to rub elbows with the Philly food world’s best and brightest.

General admission tickets are a much more reasonable $200, and buy you entrance to the “Taste of the Garces Group” shindig that starts downstairs at 7:30pm. That party will feature chefs from all of Garces’s restaurants doing samples and signature cocktails, a band and a visit from the Guapos Tacos truck as things are winding down for the night.

Tickets and sponsorships can be purchased through the Garces Family Foundation. For more information about the event or the Foundation, contact Corie Moskow at 215.518.5526 or corie@glosspr.com

Garces Family Foundation [Official website]

Puentes de Salud [Official website]

Garces Family Foundation Tickets [Ticketleap]