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Non-Profit Provides Cooking Skills and Food Education to Underprivileged Youths
The Evolved Network is a visionary Chicago non-profit that works to improve the lives of underprivileged youths through cooking lessons, food education and farm-to-table experiences. Chef/Founder Sebastian White has held a series of sumptuous dinners over the past couple of years to raise money and recruit new supporters for his mission.
Most of these dinners have been held in the city of Chicago. These include the organization's big annual Eat and Evolve event, which this year will be held Monday,. October 21 at Chicago's eden restaurant (see below for details).
This time, though, Sebastian went west — to suburban Hinsdale — on August 5 for a collaboration dinner with Chef Paul Virant at his Vistro Prime restaurant.
Paul is a pioneer in the local farm to table community and plays a key role in the philanthropic cameraderie of the culinary community. At the start of the dinner, he introduced Sebastian, a clinical psychologist who formerly worked in Waukegan to steer young people away from gangs, as "a healer."
Sebastian, whose work has been strongly promoted by Chef Sarah Stegner of Northbrook's Prairie Grass Cafe, reflected on the extraordinary support that The Evolved Network has received from the region's culinary sector.
"Every time I do one of these, I’m always in awe of the kindness of the chefs in the Chicagoland area and how they support what we’re doing," Sebastian told the attendees. "It’s so meaningful. It’s their day off, they don’t have to be here. They do it because they believe in what we’re trying to accomplish and what we’re trying to share with the kids that we work with."
He continued, "My background actually is not doing this... No culinary school, I never cooked in my life. I just love it. I’ve gotten to work with such great chefs in the process as we work to continue to grow. The passion I have for this is what I can share with the kids."
He emphasized that the young people with whom he works have limited choices in their everyday lives, and the classes he conducts in several Chicago schools empower the students to make choices about what to make, what ingredients to use, and how to go about preparing the dishes.
"It’s not just the actual cooking, it’s the mindset that I’m trying to create with the kids," Sebastian said.
After his brief remarks, it was back to the kitchen...
... and the dinner courses were, as usual, delicious.
The menu:
Scallop: Crispy lobster and coconut rice, green chile pecan oil, togarashi and basil aioli
Bouillabaisse: Calamari, mussels, cod, sourdough, rouille
Mushroom Toast: Publican Quality Bread, burrata, lentil granola, arugula salsa verde, parsnip
"Surf + Turf": Bavette + backfin crab, baby corn, black garlic horseradish potato puree
Late Summer Profiterole: Roasted white chocolate, toasted sesame, peach madeira compote.
Tickets are now on sale for The Evolved Network's Eat and Evolve fundraiser, and the lineup of leading chefs (as seen in the above graphic) again underscores both the strong support Sebastian receives and the general collaborative nature of the region's culinary community.
As described on The Evolved Network's website...
Join us as we come together to learn about The Evolved Network "Way", which begins with companionship and respect of how our kids move through the world in ways that matter to them. Companioning, in The Evolved Network “Way”, means to “be with” someone with respect and care, taking with equal concern where they came from, where they are, and where they are going. Your support enables us to show our kids from our city’s most underserved communities see that their possibilities outweigh their limitations and that through food we can heal, care and love one another, while fighting against social structures that reinforce the opposite.
Eat and Evolve takes place at eden restaurant, 2734 W. Roscoe St. in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood, with a VIP reception from 5:00 to 5:45 p.m. and the main event from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Click the first button below for general admission tickets and the second for VIP tickets.
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