Chicago Chefs Help Noto Peninsula Recovery Effort
Chef Yasuo Mizuuchi (L2) with Cooperating Chefs in the Chicago area. Left is MC Joe Cochran.
The Noto Peninsula Earthquake Relief Charity Dinner was held on April 22 organized by Project Leader Chef Yasuo Mizuuchi (ACF Certified Executive Chef) with eight Cooperating Chefs in the Chicago area and volunteers of the Team Chicago for Noto.
About 170 people attended the event at La Mirage Banquet Hall (Rolling Meadows) in the suburbs of Chicago, where the chefs presented a hearty kaiseki dinner.
In addition to the $125 per person membership fee, $22,235.75 was raised through a silent auction and donations, which was given to the Ishikawa Prefectural Government through the Japan America Society of Chicago in early May.
The cocktail hour place where the attendees enjoy having conversations with other participants.
The cocktail hour started at 6:00 p.m., and sushi platters by Chef Takashi Iida, cheese platters by Chef Jose Luna, and music by ORiHANA and Ka2 Kosaka entertained the attendees. They enjoyed having conversations with other participants who had not seen for a while. A Japanese sake tasting and a silent auction of small items and packages of premium rice were held at the cocktail hour to raise funds.
The kaiseki course dinner featured six different dishes served with music by the Chicago Koto Group, ORiHANA on violin and keyboards, and Ka2 Kosaka on guitar and harmonica.
The menu of the Kaiseki Course Dinner was:
- Seafood terrine with yuzu kosho jelly
- Ikebana-style spring salad with miso dressing
- Tare-marinated salmon with French lentils, shiitake rāyu conserva, pickled ramps and pea
shoots by Chef Paul Virant
- Citrus sorbet on a floral ice sculpture by Chef Yasuo Mizuuchi
- Sautéed Cornish game hen with asparagus on angel hair carrots and scalloped potatoes with cherry sauce
- Chocolate mousse entremets by Chef Hagop Hagopian
・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・
Cooperating Chefs
- Kevin Chen (Bistro Dragon, Bistro Chen)
- Yuki Funakoshi
- Hagop Hagopian (The Clare)
- Takashi Iida (Lawrence Fish Market)
- Jose Luna (Vi at The Glen)
- Yasuo Mizuuchi (ACF Certified Executive Chef)
- Isamu Shinagawa (Omakase Shoji)
- Shinji Sugiura (Ramen House Shinchan)
- Paul Virant (Gaijin, Vistro Prime, Little Vie)
(alphabetically order)
Participating Music Groups
- Chicago Koto Group (https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoKotoGroup/)
- Ka2 Kosaka (https://www.youtube.com/@ka2jk)
- ORiHANA (https://www.youtube.com/@orihana-jpop)
Sponsors
- Event Venue: LaMirage (https://lamiragechicago.com/)
- Floral Arrangements: Hana to Yoko
- Silent Auction Prizes:
. Cocoro Restaurant (https://cocorosushi.squarespace.com/#about)
. Daruma Restaurant (https://www.facebook.com/DarumaRestaurant/)
. Gaijin (https://gaijinchicago.com/)
. Hitotoki (https://www.instagram.com/hitotoki_chicago/)
. Noon O Kabab (https://www.noonokabab.com/)
. Renga-tei (https://www.rengateichicago.com/)
. Sake Tasting: Flight LLC (sayuri.daley@sakeflightllc.com/)
. Premium Japanese Rice TM Kotake Inc. (https://tmkotakeinc.com/jp/)