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Houston’s Top Chefs Cook Kosher

Houston’s Top Chefs Cook Kosher

February 16, 2017

Leadership, Awards & Events

Houstonia — On Monday, February 20, seven of Houston’s top chefs will gather to cook a five-course kosher meal as part of the Americans for Ben-Gurion University Greater Texas Region’s 16th annual Gourmet Kosher Extravaganza. Money raised from the dinner will be used to establish a cyber security research lab at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

“We needed a fundraiser, and I realized we needed something unique and different,” says Deborah Bergeron, Americans for Ben-Gurion University Greater Texas regional director, who began the annual event 16 years ago.

“In order to be different, I needed to get the top chefs in Houston.”

Featured chefs will include Mark Cox of Mark’s Culinary Consulting and Carmelo Mauro of Carmelo’s Ristorante Italiano, both of whom contributed their talents to the very first Kosher Extravaganza.

Efisio Farris of Arcodoro will bring Sardinian flair, joined by Mark Holley of Holley’s Seafood Restaurant and Oyster Bar, Luis Roger of BCN Taste and Tradition, and Steve Caruana, chef of the Westin Galleria, the event’s host. The only chef among the seven who habitually prepares kosher cuisine is Jason Goldstein, owner of Genesis Steakhouse.

genesis-steakhouse

The dinner’s five courses will include all-kosher dishes like this one from Genesis Steakhouse.

The seven chefs will collaborate on five courses, as well as each presenting a passed appetizer during a cocktail hour and silent auction. The group will prepare the meal under the watchful eye of a member of the Houston Kashruth Association.

What’s more, the famed chefs are doing every bit of the work for free, as a donation to the University.

“They all work together, that’s one of the beauties of this,” says Bergeron. “It has really bonded a lot of the chefs together.”

Over the course of the event’s 16 years, hundreds of thousands of dollars has been raised to benefit BGU and the Beer-Sheva community. Get your tickets for the Greater Texas Region’s 16th Gourmet Kosher Extravaganza.

Read more on the Houstonia website >>

Read about last year’s Extravaganza >>