Chefs That Care

Michael Ruhlman had a nice (albeit fairly fluffy) piece in the New York Times about the charitable work of chefs. The Emeril Lagasse Foundation, for example, raised nearly $8 million over the past six years, and Lagasse devotes 1,000 hours a year traveling and cooking for various charitable causes. Mario Batali, Paul Kahan, Aarón Sánchez, and others are also mentioned for donating time, food, and other resources. Given how successful "celebrity" chefs have become in our society, I was glad to hear that Jonathan Waxman said: "Chefs are very generous. We always bring our own food, our own staff, and if we have to pay for anything, we do it out of our own pocket."