Celebrity chef helps with fundraiser to feed children

Celebrity chef helps with fundraiser to feed children

Since Nate Hiegel was a sauté cook in the kitchen of Sycamore Hills Golf Club, he has had the opportunity to cook with some of the country’s best culinary minds.

Guest Judge Graham Elliot, as seen on Food Network’s Kids BBQ Challenge Season 1.

Guest Judge Graham Elliot, as seen on Food Network’s Kids BBQ Challenge Season 1.

And on Tuesday, he will be joined by another – Graham Elliot, who will be the celebrity chef for this year’s Blessings in a Backpack fundraiser.

Currently a judge on Food Network’s “Cooks vs. Cons,” Elliot – with his signature white-framed glasses, vest, and tie – is among the most recognizable faces of cooking in America today. He was co-host and judge on Fox’s “Masterchef” and “Masterchef Jr.,” was a contestant on “Iron Chef America” and has also appeared on “Top Chef Masters.” At 27, Elliot became the youngest four-star chef in any major U.S. city and was also named one of Food & Wine magazine’s “Best New Chefs.”

Elliot and a team of chefs, including Hiegel, will prepare a five-course dinner to benefit the Fort Wayne chapter of Blessings in a Backpack, which feeds more than 1,640 students in the area.

This year, the menu stays true to the culinary perspective of Elliot, who honors tradition and time-proven methods but embraces the chance to be creative and think outside the box. There will be his version of a Caesar salad, but it will be topped with a brioche Twinkie and a gazpacho made with in-season watermelon.

Hiegel, though, is looking forward to cooking – and tasting – a halibut BLT because “I’ve never had one.”

Preparations for Tuesday’s meal, which will serve 200 people at $750 per ticket, will begin this week but much of the work will be done the day before and day of the event.

Chad Ryan | The Journal Gazette Sycamore Hills Executive Chef Nate Hiegel places grilled filet mignon steaks on a tray as he prepares for an event at Sycamore on Monday. Hiegel will be part of a team of chefs, including a celebrity chef, who will collaborate for the annual Blessings in a Backpack fundraiser.

Chad Ryan | The Journal Gazette
Sycamore Hills Executive Chef Nate Hiegel places grilled filet mignon steaks on a tray as he prepares for an event at Sycamore on Monday.

“Imagine kids not eating on a regular schedule unless they were at school. Imagine a house full of kids switching clothes that may be too big or too small just to get a meal,” Hiegel says. “Ths charity is amazing and means so much to our community … to all of us who recognize and support it.”

Read more from journalgazette.net.