PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Great Chefs Event is one of Philadelphia’s premier food events and it’s only a few weeks away. It started in 2006 as a way to support Lemonade Stand Alex Foundationand raised $1,000 that first year.
Now in his 16th yearthat amount has grown into millions, and there are no signs of it stopping.
When you get the chance to have an award-winning chef make you a pizza, you don’t pass it up.
When I asked Marc Vetri what was the secret of a good cake, he said, keep it simple. After listing a few basic ingredients at Pizzeria Salvy this afternoon — Fontina cheese, red onions, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese — he added something unexpected: lemons. It was the perfect ingredient since we were talking about the upcoming one Great Chefs Event in aid of the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
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The Great Chefs event was the brainchild of Vetri and his business partner Jeff Benjamin. More than 30 superstar chefs from across the country come together under one roof to serve their signature dishes.
“I can eat their food and I can meet them, and I can take a picture with them,” Vetri said, “and I can have this interaction with them, it just makes it really special.”
But Vetri said when Liz Scott talks about the money the event raises to end childhood cancer, it takes the event to a whole new level.
“You think, wow, not only is it really great food and the event is a lot of fun,” Vetri said, “but it’s actually super meaningful and we’re actually saving lives.”
Vetri said he knew from the start that the Great Chefs Event would be great.
“I had it in my head, I saw it from the first event, I thought, ‘This has got to be huge, it’s going to be huge,’” Vetri said.
As we enjoyed that fresh-out-of-the-oven lemon pizza, I noticed that photos of Vetri’s father Sal hang prominently on the walls. Pizzeria Salvy is named after him.
One of the rules Sal Vetri lived by was to always have integrity: you are only as good as your word.
It’s something his son has taken to heart, especially as it relates to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.
“Because they always say, ‘Are we going to have this next year?’” Marc Vetri said. “And I always say, ‘Guys, you have me for life. I’m in.'”
The Great Chefs Event is Saturday, June 8 from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Urban Outfitters headquarters at the Navy Yard.
Jim Donovan
