I Care I Cure Celebrity Chef Culinary & Wine Experience
By: Anquanette “Q” Gaspard – Food & Wine Contributor
I Care I Cure Childhood Cancer Foundation has been fighting the good fight in finding new, cutting edge methods to make the treatment of childhood cancer gentler and more tolerable. After Beth & Brad Besner’s son, Ian, died from complications from his treatment of T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in 2006, the couple (with their family & friends) founded the organization to raise awareness and support developments in childhood cancer treatments.
This past Sunday October 26th, the foundation hosted its 2nd Annual Celebrity Chef Culinary & Wine Experience at Miami Marlins Park. Over 250 guests attended a 2-hour interactive cocktail reception followed by a VIP Dinner. During the cocktail reception, scrumptious appetizers & hors d’ oeuvres were prepared by five South Florida chefs that tantalized the taste buds of everyone in attendance with the sweet sounds of steel pan music by Mr. Dexter Browne wafting through the air.
Pickled mango salad with tamarind-glazed shrimp was seemingly the biggest hit of the night during the cocktail reception. Prepared by Chef Sean Fortune of Sea Level Restaurant at Harbor Beach Marriott, one couldn’t help but overhear guests rave about the dish. Susie’s Scrumptious Treats provided some of their most tempting desserts to guests with pumpkin popcorn & cake pops in a variety of flavors such as key lime, red velvet & chocolate. Let’s just say those ladies know a thing or two about baking! Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue served up their unbelievable smoked brisket sliders topped with creamy coleslaw and their signature barbecue sauce. Paired with a side of collard greens and they had a winning combination on their hands.
Clockwise from top left: Pickled mango salad, Smoked Brisket Slider, Desserts from Susie’s
The evening continued on the lower deck of the Miami Marlins Park for the VIP Dinner. The 3-course dinner included wine pairings provided by Southern Wine & Spirits. Salad vert with buttermilk panna cotta, herb roasted lamb sirloin and a chocolate raspberry galette satisfied the appetites of all guests in attendance. Fontainbleu Miami’s Marlon Rambaran, Chef de Cuisine of Scarpetta & Jordi Panisello, Executive Pastry Chef, led the VIP Dinner cooking demonstrations. In the demonstrations, Chef Rambaran prepared the evening’s herb roasted sirloin entrée and Chef Panisello showed guests how to create 2 desserts that were quick, easy and required little clean up. I Care I Cure founders, Beth & Brad Besner provided additional insight on some of the work they’ve been doing in their partnership with Miami Children’s Hospital and how all proceeds from the night’s event would benefit children with cancer.
For more information about I Care I Cure Childhood Cancer Foundation, go to http://www.icareicure.org/ or call them at 1.800.807.8013.
