Check, Please! Local Non-Profit Gets a Big Slice from a Steakhouse

Food education organization Pilot Light Benefits from Hawksmoor Largesse

Hawksmoor Steakhouse in Chicago — Photo by Bob Benenson

Having published Local Food Forum for going on 3-½ years, I’ve landed on the contact lists of a number of public relations firms. As a result, I get quite a few solicitations to attend restaurant openings or product launches and such.

Since Local Food Forum is tightly focused on local food ecosystems and building a better food system, I have to dismiss most such solicitations, even if it means passing up the opportunity for what undoubtedly is some very tasty free food.

So when I received an invitation to attend the grand opening of Hawksmoor, the new Chicago outlet of a luxe, England-based steakhouse group, I was uncertain about whether it would be in my ballpark. That is, until I got to the passage in the press release about how they have a philanthropic mission, and had chosen the Pilot Light food education program as its first Chicago partner with an initial donation of $10,000.

It’s no secret that Pilot Light is one of my favorite non-profit organizations. Created by a coalition of leading Chicago chefs 13 years ago, Pilot Light has grown from a small program helping integrate lessons about food into the lesson plans in a handful of Chicago public schools to a force in food education across the nation.

Local Food Forum on Tuesday (August 6) published an article about a recent Pilot Light event that featured a panel discussion about its mission and a report on federally funded research into the efficacy of its programs.

That donation got me to yes on the Hawksmoor invitation. Before I went, I asked Will Beckett, CEO of Hawskmoor why they selected Pilot Light as their beneficiary.

He replied, “We did quite a bit of research in Chicago around the charitable causes that are closest to our heart in terms of our philanthropic work — food and water, poverty, especially impacting children. When we came across Pilot Light, it felt like we’d stumbled across kindred spirits, and we were really moved by the work they do across the city.” He noted that this was in keeping with its philanthropic efforts in its host cities around the world.

Tamara Golden, Pilot Light’s director of development, said the organization first connected with Hawksmoor at the First Bites Bash in Chicago this past January. Further conversations ensued, and Will indicated that Pilot Light would be their charitable choice. But Tamara said the size of the gift was a surprise.

Tamara added that when a Hawksmoor team member called to say that the restaurant wanted to start the partnership off with the big donation, “I screamed in the office. It’s so generous.”

She praised Hawksmoor, saying, “They have done such a lovely job of getting to know our city, getting to know what’s important in Chicago and what matters to the people who live here.” She also noted that Hawksmoor will be participating in Pilot Light’s Feed Your Mind annual gala scheduled for November 1.

The Grand Opening event was swell, with lots of passed oysters, roasted meat, cocktails and wine. Hopefully these photos provide some flavor of the event.