When guests arrived at for the 2014 edition of , they had no idea who would be cooking their dinner or what they were going to eat.
They just knew they were in for a treat.
Chefs from 17 of Denver’s top restaurants were participating in this benefit for , and none of them knew who’d be enjoying the fruits of their labor until cocktail hour ended and executive director Joe McCormack asked everyone to gather around a potted palm situated near the silent auction tables.
As McCormack called out each table host’s name, the host plucked one of the 17 cards that were hanging from the branches.
Only then would folks know whether they’d be dining on food prepared by DJ Nagle of ; Kyle Foster ( ); Brandon Foster ( ; Samir Mohammad ( Simon Purvis ( ); Tom Lankheet ( ; Kevin Grossi ( ); Michel Wahaltere ( ); Iain Chisholm ( ; Lucas Chandler ( ); Jon Mendoza ( ; Kurt Boucher ( ; Brandon Muncy ( ; Jose Guerrero ( ; Ruben Garcia ( ; Alex White ( ; or Chris Cina, corporate chef for the family of restaurants.
The chefs, along with mixologists Justin Lloyd ( ); Glenn Pollak ( ); Anthony Giovanni ( ) and Ryan Conklin ( ), are part of , a food-and-beverage industry organization, started by Jensen Cummings, that is dedicated to supporting worthy causes.
The $200-a-ticket Flavors of Denver, presented by , also was the occasion to honor Dr. Bahri Bilir of , a liver disease specialist who was involved in Colorado’s first living donor transplantation.
The evening’s special appeal was introduced by James and Carleen McGuffey. James and his 17-year-old son, Kaleb, will on June 4 in an effort to bring attention to liver disease, the American Liver Foundation and , with which Carleen was diagnosed when she was pregnant with the couple’s sixth child.
Syd Sexton, the Ritz-Carlton’s area director of catering, was there on behalf of her son, Tim Sexton. Tim has been diagnosed with , a rare liver disease that will require a transplant. “One in a million people get this,” Syd said, “but Tim has a great attitude and is doing well, thanks to his doctors at University of Colorado Hospital. In fact, he’s planning to run in the .”
Others at the event were Gretchen Healey, chair of the American Liver Foundation board; Dr. Igal Kam, director of the ; Drs. John Goff, John Riopelle, Barbara Piasecki and Joseph Cassara; Michael Surd, general manager of Jennifer Davis, senior therapeutic specialist with ; the Fred Churbuck; executive director Karla Johnson-Grimes with her husband, Jeff; and Steve Edmonds, executive director of the .
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
Online: More pictures from this event denverpost.com/seengallery
Happy birthday, Wilma Webb
Denver’s former first lady, Wilma Webb, celebrated a milestone birthday at a surprise brunch held at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. See photographs from the jewel-themed event denverpost.com/seengallery
