DC CENTRAL KITCHEN CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF CAPITAL FOOD FIGHT ON NOVEMBER 7, 2024, PRESENTED BY INSTACART & LINEAGE
Award-Winning Chefs from Rooster & Owl, Duck & the Peach, The Colada Shop, and Shilling Canning Company Take the Stage to Fight Hunger During DCCK’s Baddest Night of Doing Good
Washington, DC – August 27, 2024 – The DC dining scene has changed a lot over the past 20 years, but one event has been there through it all: DC Central Kitchen’s annual Capital Food Fight. First hosted in 2004 by DC Central Kitchen’s long-time volunteer and Board Chair Emeritus José Andrés, the organization’s “Baddest Night of Doing Good” has long been the must-attend event of food lovers, TV stars, and philanthropists alike, as well as a proving ground for some of DC’s rising culinary stars all while raising more than $12 million in support of DC Central Kitchen’s fight against hunger and poverty in our nation’s capital!
The 20th anniversary of DC Central Kitchen’s Capital Food Fight, presented by Instacart and Lineage Foundation for Good, is set to take place at The Anthem on Thursday, November 7, 2024. Tickets to this year’s event go on sale to the public Tuesday, September 3rd at 9am on capitalfoodfight.org.
“Just as DC Central Kitchen has always sought to fight hunger differently over the past 35 years, Capital Food Fight has always been a fundamentally different type of event,” says Mike Curtin, CEO of DC Central Kitchen. “Over the past two decades, we have come together to celebrate our local restaurant community and the relentless, innovative work of DC Central Kitchen on the front lines of hunger and poverty. We are so grateful to the thousands of attendees, restaurants, and sponsors who have helped us raise more than $12 million through the years in support of our work.”
Four new local chefs will join a storied list of notable chefs who have faced off in the head-to-head culinary challenge featuring a spotlighted secret ingredient. Michelin-star Chef & Co-Owner of Rooster & Owl and Ellie Bird Yuan Tang, Chef Sarah Ravitz of Shilling Canning Company (a former chef at two Micheline-starred Minibar), Executive Chef Katarina Petonito of Eastern Point Collective restaurants (The Duck & The Peach, La Collina, Méli, and The Wells), and The Colada Shop’s Executive Chef Jova Urriola will step up to the stoves on the main event stage throughout the evening.
Their dishes will be judged by a panel of culinary icons, including Emmy & 4x James Beard Award-Winning Chef and Cultural Anthropologist Andrew Zimmern, acclaimed Chef & Restaurateur Kwame Onwuachi, Top Chef All-Star & Restaurateur Sara Bradley, Mr. National Ryan Zimmerman, and DC’s own Chef Ris Lacoste – the winner of the very first Capital Food Fight! Celebrity Chef and DC-based Restaurateur, Spike Mendelsohn, Chef Andrés, and local media personality Tommy McFly return as the evening’s hosts and emcee, respectively. DJ Tezrah will keep things rocking on the decks all night long as attendees enjoy libations and delicious bites from more than 80 of the DMV’s best restaurants and bars across two floors of The Anthem.
Tickets will be available for purchase at www.capitalfoodfight.org starting on Tuesday, September 3rd at 9 am. General admission tickets are $350, with VIP access going for $625. VIP ticket holders will have exclusive access to a stage-front lounge area featuring small bites and special sips from some of the city’s elite producers.
All proceeds from Capital Food Fight, including donations, the raffle and silent auction, go to support DC Central Kitchen’s award-winning solutions to hunger and poverty in Washington, DC, from providing culinary job training to serving scratch-cooked school meals to delivering fresh fruits and vegetables at deep discounts to small corner stores across city.
Special thanks to the 2024 Capital Food Fight Presenting Sponsors, Instacart and Lineage Foundation for Good, along with Showcase Sponsors CoBank. Wegmans is generously stocking this year’s on-stage pantry with Cuisine Solutions, Keany Produce, and AUI Fine Foods providing the secret ingredients the battling chefs will need to highlight in each round. Guest Services is proud to present a special cocktail demonstration by some of DC’s best mixologists spotlighting a featured ingredient. Further appreciation goes to our Executive Chef Sponsors Bloomberg Philanthropies, Clark Construction, and Vox Media; and Sous Chef Sponsors AARP Foundation, The Anthem, Bank of America, CoStar Group, DoorDash, PNC Bank, and Singer Equipment. For a full list of 2024 sponsors and information on remaining sponsorship opportunities, please visit capitalfoodfight.org/sponsors.
Capital Food Fight is a 21 and older event. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.capitalfoodfight.org.
ABOUT DC CENTRAL KITCHEN
DC Central Kitchen (DCCK) is an iconic nonprofit and social enterprise that combats hunger and poverty through job training and job creation. Our approach provides hands-on culinary job training while creating living-wage jobs and bringing nutritious, dignified food where it is most needed in our city. We serve scratch-cooked farm-to-school meals in DC schools; deliver fresh, affordable produce to corner stores in neighborhoods without supermarkets; provide delicious catering; and operate three fast-casual cafes that also provide on-the-job training. To learn more, visit dccentralkitchen.org or follow @dccentralkitchen on Instagram and @dcck on X.
About Instacart
Instacart, the leading grocery technology company in North America, works with grocers and retailers to transform how people shop. The company partners with more than 1,500 national, regional, and local retail banners to facilitate online shopping, delivery and pickup services from more than 85,000 stores across North America on the Instacart Marketplace. Instacart makes it possible for millions of people to get the groceries they need from the retailers they love, and for approximately 600,000 Instacart shoppers to earn by picking, packing and delivering orders on their own flexible schedule. The Instacart Platform offers retailers a suite of enterprise-grade technology products and services to power their e-commerce experiences, fulfill orders, digitize brick-and-mortar stores, provide advertising services, and glean insights. With Instacart Ads, thousands of CPG brands – from category leaders to emerging brands – partner with the company to connect directly with consumers online, right at the point of purchase. With Instacart Health, the company is providing tools to increase nutrition security, make healthy choices easier for consumers, and expand the role that food can play in improving health outcomes. For more information, visit www.instacart.com/company, and to start shopping, visit www.instacart.com.
ABOUT LINEAGE FOUNDATION FOR GOOD
The Lineage Foundation for Good (the “Foundation”) is the independent philanthropic arm of Lineage. Stacked with unique cold chain expertise and strategic relationships a plenty, the Foundation is bridging the hunger gap across the world and in our local communities – and everyone is invited to be a part of it. No one likes to see food go to waste, especially while people go hungry. That’s why Lineage Foundation for Good is stepping up to find second chances for surplus food. Our mission is to develop a dynamic, real-time and global link between those who commercially produce our food and the individuals, families and communities who need it most. We know the issue of food waste and insecurity is a global one that is also felt close to home – and with our collective of customers, volunteers and donation partners all around the world, our impact can reach further. In other words, there’s nowhere for hunger and food waste to hide.
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EDITORIAL NOTE:
There will be a limited number of media passes available to this year’s event. To request passes or discuss promotional opportunities, please contact Director of Communications Mel Gold at mgold@dccentralkitchen.org.
Photos from past Capital Food Fights are available upon request.