Tomorrow, Marc Vetri, Jeff Michaud and Jeff Benjamin will be honored at Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’sLemon Ball gala for their work to find cures for all kids with cancer. The team will receive the Alex Scott Crystal Cup for their work in their Great Chef’s Event fundraiser.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand isn’t Marc Vetri’s only charitable venture. The Vetri Foundation for Children is collecting new or gently used cookbooks for Universal Audenried Charter High School and their culinary arts program. Now through January 21st they are collecting these books. Drop off your donation at any of the Vetri Family restaurants or mail them directly to the school:
Universal Audenried Charter High School
Attn: Chef Charles Bennett
3301 Tasker St
Philadelphia, PA 19145
How often do you wish for that Italian mother you never had? One to teach you how to mold fresh pasta and make their famous meatballs? Well if you’re like me, pretty often. Lucky for us, we can get a taste of what it would be like by borrowing someone else’s Italian mamma.
On Tuesday, December 11th, the mother-in-law of Osteria’s Chef Michaud, Pina Carrera, is making the trek from Italy to cook up her special holiday dinner. For one night only enjoy her traditional four course Bergamoscan celebration meal. It’ll cost you $175 per person, including wine, tax and gratuity, but for a special occasion like this, it promises to be more then worth it.
Tuesday, September 18thOsteria will be holding a special dinner from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. to gear up for fall. The five-course dinner will be $125 per person and will feature the wines of the Abbazia di Novacella, the oldest continually-operated winery in Europe. The wines will be paired with a fall menu inspired by the northernmost region of Italy where Abbazia di Novacella lies, Alto Adige.
Lemon Hill is having an eventful August with two more events happening August 26th: a rare beer tasting and a Guest Chef Pot Luck event. The beer tasting of rare Swiss beers features Jon Medlinsky of Khyber Pass Pub and starts at 4:30 p.m. The beers to be tasted will come from Brasserie Des Franches-Mantagnes, a small brewery in Switzerland known for their Abbaye de Saint Bon-Chien an annually released wine-like beer. Attendance is $52 which also covers snacks and the beer. Seating is limited, so reservations are required.
We want our children to learn, to be social and to be productive. We buy them books and teach them to read and write. Yet, when it comes to feeding them the energy that is necessary to make their minds and bodies function better, we put them in a line, give them a tray and slop unrecognizable food onto it. If we did not put gasoline in a car would it run? If we did not plug in a computer would it work? Then why do we expect our children to grow, be productive and flourish without the right energy going inside of them?
This is just another step in Vetri’s determined campaign to overhaul school lunches. Back in 2009 Vetri, along with help from Jeff Michaud and Jeff Benjamin, started the “Eatiquette” program and their mission was simple: to bring family-style eating –all the social interaction and comfort included – to school lunches. The “Eatiquette” program has been successful in multiple region schools and camps and the Vetri Foundation continues to support it.
Vice is back in Philadelphia for another edition of Munchies. Last time the online show followed around Amis’ Brad Spence. In this episode, it’s Alla Spina’s Jeff Michaud who gets the spotlight.
Check it out as Michaud has a night out with Michael Solomonov, Percy Street’s Erin O’Shea and Pub & Kitchen’s Jonathan Adams. Afterwards they return to Alla Spina for some late night snacks and a pig’s head.
Not safe for work, and not just because of the pig’s head.
Jeff Michaud of Alla Spina recently filmed an episode for VICE’s web series called Munchies which features chefs from around the country answering questions and making some, well, munchies. To celebrate VICE is throwing a party at Alla Spina on Thursday June 7th at 10pm to screen the episode.
Brad Spence of Amis also recently filmed an episode of Munchies which will also be shown tonight. No reservations are required and there will be a special late-night menu as well as $2 Brooklyn Brewery beers.
Don’t worry, if you miss the screening, Jeff’s episode airs on VICE.com on June 11th!
Goodbye, rubbery nuggets, plastic trays and long cafeteria lines. The city’s top chef and his team want to turn the midday meal on its head. Marc Vetri, Jeff Benjamin and Jeff Michaud aim to remake school lunch. And not just the food but the social setting as well.
UPDATE: Today was Vetri’s first day providing lunch at People for People Charter School and he tweeted the work. Vetri’s Eatiquette program provided roast turkey, mushroom risotto, Swiss chard and a fresh pear for $1.82 per child. [Twitter]
Alla Spina is going to bankrupt us. It is going to destroy our relationships and make us fat. It has everything we want in a restaurant–interesting beers, fried pig tails, mortadella hot dogs, a cool bar, graffiti, a pig dressed in leg-warmers like Alex from Flashdance. The only saving grace is that the place isn’t closer to the office, because if it was, I’m pretty sure we’d be moving all Foobooz operations permanently to the 2nd floor mezzanine.
Alla Spina officially opens for business on Monday the 27th. Can you guess where we’re going to be on Monday night?
Marc Vetri and Jeff Michaud have been tweeting away about the progress being made at Alla Spina. The garage doors are in, the bar’s installed and the graffiti artist (yes, graffiti artist) almost has his art installation complete.
Here are some shots the various principals have been posting to Twitter.
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