WASHINGTON — Well-known chefs in the DMV are uniting for a dinner event to raise money for the families of the seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid workers killed in Gaza earlier this month.
Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate (CSAH), a group that collaborates with chefs to support a cause, is hosting the event at Moon Rabbit on April 29.
The group says many in the D.C. culinary community knew the victims personally.
Chef Kevin Tien of Moon Rabbit said the multi-course meal with beverage pairings will bring together an “unprecedented collection of bold-faced names” in the city’s food scene for one night.
The event has already sold out.
“I think the power of food is also a good way to recover and be used as a way to keep persevering forward,” Tien told WUSA9.
Among the other participating chefs include Aaron Silverman of Rose’s Luxury, Matt Adler of Caruso’s Grocery, Ryan Ratino or Bresca, Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto, Rose Previte of Compass Rose, Amy Brandwein of Centrolina, Tim Ma of Lucky Danger, and Susan Bae of Moon Rabbit.
“We are friends but we're also competitors, but we all come together for something like this it's just such a good thing that happens here in DC particularly within the chef's community,” Chef Tim Ma told WUSA9. “To a certain degree the chefs are somewhat celebrities in their communities, so, using that for something like this is such a positive thing.”
CSAH previously helped support emergency food efforts for WCK in Ukraine, Maui, and Gaza.
The workers died when strikes from an Israeli armed drones hit the marked vehicles used to deliver food.
WCK Founder Chef Jose Andres previously said, “I am heartbroken and grieving for their families and friends and our whole WCK family. These are people...angels...I served alongside in Ukraine, Gaza, Turkey, Morocco, Bahamas, Indonesia. They are not faceless; they are not nameless.”
Since establishing in 2021 to support AAPI causes, CSAH raised more than $250,000.