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This article is brought to you in partnership with the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation. Let’s save lives together!
The Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation will be hosting St. Louis culinary star, Chef Ben Welch for their upcoming Celebrity Chef & Wine Dinner on Nov. 5 from 6-10 p.m. at The Wisconsin Club City Club, 900 W. Wisconsin Ave.
In fact, the dinner is a unique opportunity – not only to support the foundation’s mission to prevent, fight and cure cancer – but also to taste a meal prepared by Chef Welch without the need to travel to St. Louis.
To sweeten the deal, anyone who purchases a table for the Celebrity Chef & Wine Dinner on Nov. 5 also gets two complimentary tickets to the Tasting Experience at the Pfister Hotel on Nov. 4 (a $250 value).
About Welch
Welch, a Johnson and Wales University graduate who will be opening his second restaurant, Lucy Quinn, in 2023, has spent his 20+ year career working at a variety of notable restaurants including Emeril Lagasse’s Nola in New Orleans. In 2019, he was named “Chef of the Year” and one of the “Five Innovators Shaping St. Louis’ Culinary Scene” in 2018 by Feast magazine. In 2022 he was honored as a semifinalist for the James Beard Best Chef Midwest Award.
For Welch, who will be preparing a five-course meal for the event, cancer is an issue that hits home. His father survived stage four throat cancer. After battling the sickness, his father bounced back to work by his side at his first restaurant, Big Baby Q and Smokehouse.
“I am really looking forward to the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation dinner,” said Chef Welch. “I have one of my signature meals planned, and I think guests are going to love it.”
On the menu
Among the ingredients featured in Welch’s dinner will be the award-winning mascarpone, along with other signature cheeses from Wisconsin cheesemaker Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese.
Dishes will be paired with wines from Newfound Wines, a winery in the California Sierra Foothills founded by Matt and Audra Naumann in 2016; Sandhi Wines, a small production California winery focusing on select vineyards from the Sta. Rita Hill which has been in operation since 2010; and Oregon-based Evening Land Vineyards, which has been committed to organic and biodynamic farming since 2007.
The evening will begin with passed hors d'oeuvres including cornbread with whipped lardo and hackleback caviar; crab beignets with preserved lemon remoulade; and sweet potato with mascarpone, candied pecans and hot honey.
From there, Welch will present the following courses:
- Mozzarella with figs, saba, arugula, extra virgin olive oil and black pepper
- Maitake Mushroom with porcini hummus, crispy chickpeas and herbs
- Country ham with panna gratta, gruyere and extra virgin olive oil
- BBQ shrimp with preserved lemon, potato gnocchi, peas
- Dark chocolate and hazelnut pudding with candied hazelnuts
Tickets for the dinner are $300 per person and can be purchased online at lombardifoundation.org/food-wine. Proceeds benefit the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation’s mission to fight cancer in honor of legendary NFL Coach Vince Lombardi who lost his life to colon cancer at age 57.
For more information about the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation or to donate or sponsor an event, visit lombardifoundation.org or follow the foundation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
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