6th Annual Spring Benefit: Celebrating Culinary Ambassadors

Dear Friends of Spoons Across America,

We hope you are all staying safe and healthy in this trying time. 
 
After considerate deliberation, we have made the extremely difficult choice to postpone our 6th Annual Spring Benefit scheduled for April 29th at The Metropolitan Club in New York City.

The uncertainty around COVID-19 made it clear that it was not appropriate for us to put our guests, family, and friends at risk. Although the event is still 6 weeks away, we believe that our decision will support the national effort to contain the spread of the virus. 

Thank you again for your generous support of Spoons Across America.  Our Spring Benefit was on track to be our best thanks to people like you that share our mission to bring food education programs to children across the country.  Your ticket purchases and donations will be saved for the future event, and we can't wait to celebrate with you.   

Please let us know if you have any questions, and we hope you and your loved ones stay safe. 

James Grosso

Executive Director

[email protected]

Award for Excellence
Ming Tsai

Ming Tsai is the James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of Blue Dragon in Massachusetts and his latest venture BABA at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. An Emmy Award-winner, Ming hosts PBS-TV's Simply Ming, now in its seventeenth season. Ming is the author of five cookbooks: Blue Ginger: East Meets West Cooking with Ming Tsai, Simply Ming, Ming's Master Recipes, Simply Ming One-Pot Meals, and Simply Ming In Your Kitchen. Ming supports many charities including Family Reach, a non-profit whose mission is to provide financial relief and support to families fighting cancer, of which he is currently the President of the National Advisory Board. For more visit www.ming.com.

Julia V. Jordan Award for Volunteerism
Carla Hall

Carla is best known as a former co-host of ABC's Emmy award-winning, popular lifestyle series The Chew. She won over audiences when she competed on Bravo's Top Chef and Top Chef: All Stars and shared her philosophy to always cook with love. In 2020 she will be featured as a judge on Crazy Delicious (Netflix) and on BakeAway Camp (Food Network). Her latest cookbook, Carla Hall's Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration, was published in 2018, landing on annual "Best Cookbook" lists across the country and receiving an NAACP Image Awards nomination. 

Carla is very active with a number of charities and not-for-profit organizations that reflect her passion for causes close to her heart. Such organizations include Helen Keller International, an organization that works to improve the lives of those with blindness, and to prevent the causes and consequences of blindness, poor health, and malnutrition and the Pajama Program, which works to promote and support a comforting bedtime routine to help all children thrive by providing cozy pajamas, inspiring storybooks, and critical resources for caregivers.

Carla believes food connects us all, and she strives to communicate this through her work, her cooking, and in her daily interactions with others.  

Master of Ceremonies
Andrew Zimmern

Andrew Zimmern is a four-time James Beard award-winning TV personality, chef, writer, teacher and social justice advocate. In 2020, Andrew returns to television with two new programs, including What's Eating America in primetime on MSNBC. As the creator, executive producer and host of Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods franchise, Andrew Zimmern's Driven by Food and The Zimmern List, he has explored cultures in more than 170 countries, promoting impactful ways to think about, create and live with food. Andrew is the founder and CEO of both Intuitive Content, a full-service television and digital production company, and Passport Hospitality, a restaurant and food service development company. He is devoted to his charitable endeavors and sits on the board of directors of Services for the UnderServed, Project Explorer/EXPLR, Soigne Hospitality and Taste of the NFL. He is the International Rescue Committee's Voice for Nutrition. His life's work is exploring and promoting cultural acceptance, tolerance and understanding through food. Andrew Zimmern received the Award for Excellence in 2018 at the 4th Annual Spring Benefit.

Photo credit: Madeleine Hill

Auctioneer
Sebastian Clarke

Sebastian is a Senior Vice President with DOYLE Auctioneers and Appraisers. He has over 20 years of experience in the trade and has served as a Specialist in the European Furniture department at Sotheby's, as Director of the English and Continental furniture department at Freeman's, previously at Doyle New York as a Senior Vice-President and Director of the English and Continental Furniture and Decorations department and most recently as Director of Trusts and Estates at Rago Auctions. Sebastian is fortunate enough to be an appraiser on the hit PBS show Antiques Roadshow. He is regularly featured as a specialist in furniture, decorative arts, sculpture and metalwork, and silver.

Mr. Clarke sits on the Board of Directors for the Appraisers Association of America. He is a USPAP compliant certified member of the association, a featured contributor to CNN's Out Front with Erin Burnett and is a member of the vetting committee for the Palm Beach Jewelry, Art and Antiques Show. He is also an auctioneer, well-known for his work on the charity circuit, and has been the auctioneer for The Annual Spring Benefit since 2015.

Prior Award for Excellence Honorees

2015 Individual Honoree - Chef Jacques Pépin

2016 Individual Honoree - Gail Simmons

2016 Corporate Honoree - New York Times Food Section (Sam Sifton)

2017 Individual Honoree - Rachael Ray

2017 Corporate Honoree - Ferguson Enterprises

2018 Individual Honoree - Andrew Zimmern

2019 Individual Honoree - José Andrés

Prior Julia V. Jordan Award for Volunteerism Honorees

2018 Honoree - Robert "Chef Bobo" Surles

2019 Honoree - Diane Harris Brown

6th Annual Spring Benefit Committee

Co-Chairs
Jeff Bank - Katherine Boulud

Benefit Committee
Douglas B. Adler - LA Adler - Diane Harris Brown - Marisa Colaneri - David Curtis
Olga D'Alto - Lynda Dias - David Finkel - Emily Kamenitzer  
Richard Mandell - Evan Merlis - Rachelle Parker - Salvatore Rizzo  
Andrea Sherman - Bill Yosses

Who We Are

Spoons Across America is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating children, teachers, and families about the benefits of healthy eating. Spoons Across America was founded in 2001 by a group of educators, chefs, and food professionals to increase awareness of the importance of food and nutrition education to the health and well-being of children and their families.

Our core programs (Spoons Food Explorers, From Farm to Book, Take a Taste with Spoons, Spoons Recipe Days, The Dinner Party Project, and Agriculture Literacy Week) cover the 1st through 5th-grades in New York City Public Schools. In addition to our New York City programs, The Food Exploration Project and Spoons Cooking Club were developed for communities outside of New York City. All our programs, local and national, actively engage children to use all their senses through hands-on-experience and direct observation. To date, over 100,000 children, teachers, and families have participated in our programs.

We are dedicated to improving children's relationship with food so that they may enjoy the benefits of healthier bodies, lives, families, and communities.

 
Please click here to learn more about Spoons Across America's programs.