ASLF First Annual Benefit Press Release
ANNE SAXELBY LEGACY FUND FIRST ANNUAL BENEFIT • CHELSEA MARKET • SEPTEMBER 14 • 6-10pm
An evening with 60 of NYC’s most beloved chefs, celebrating Anne’s impact on the food community and ASLF’s first season of fully sponsored Farm Apprenticeships.
New York, NY. September 14, 2022 - Wednesday September 14th from 6-10pm, Chelsea Market in NYC will be transformed into a gallery of gastronomic delights powered by 60 of Anne’s favorite chefs and artisans preparing sustainable dishes, to honor Anne Saxelby’s legacy in the world of food and farming, and to celebrate the first season of the Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund which provides fully funded paid apprenticeships for young adults to live on sustainable farms – to work, learn, and be inspired to create change in their communities.
Participating chefs include Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson of Frenchette, Michael Anthony of Gramercy Tavern, Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi of Carbone, Lena Ciardullo of Union Square Cafe, Max Ng of Momofuku, Trigg Brown of Win Son, Rich Ho of Ho Foods, Rita Sodi and Jody Williams of I Sodi, TJ Steele of Claro, Cesare Casella of Casella’s Salumi, Melinda Shopsin of Shopsin’s, Brent Young of the Meat Hook, Melissa Rodriguez of Mel’s, Daniel Eddy of Winner, and many more.
Cocktails will be curated and served by Grand Army Bar and Fort Defiance, wine will be poured by Cain Vineyards, Chamber Street Wines, and Red Hook Winery, with inventive desserts from Caroline Schiff of Gage & Tollner, and Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina. In addition, the vendors of Chelsea Market, home to Saxelby Cheesemongers, will be serving the foods that helped transform the space into one of the world’s top culinary destinations.
Anne grew into a leading advocate for American farmstead and artisanal cheeses, introducing them to leading chefs and discerning customers. In attendance will be many of the artisans Anne worked with in cheese and who now participate in the Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund including her friends at Jasper Hill Farm, Ploughgate Creamery, The Von Trapp Farmstead, Uplands Cheese, Consider Bardwell Farm, Spring Brook Farm, and Meadow Creek Dairy to name a few. Various charcutiers and other artisans who were featured at Anne’s shop will also showcase their products at the event.
Visual art and video will be on display telling the stories of sustainable farming through the eyes of ASLF Apprentices, many of whom will be at the event. There will be a silent auction and raffle featuring special culinary experiences. Artechouse will be running their feature film, Life of a Neuron, in their adjoining venue with special experiential cocktails at their bar.
Visit the Benefit’s Eventbrite to see the full list of ASLF Chefs and to purchase tickets, which have a base price of $250 and a sliding scale beginning at $50 and ranging up to $10,000, the cost to employ and house an Apprentice to a working farm for one month. All proceeds from the Benefit will go toward funding future farm apprenticeships.
The restaurants and the benefit organizing team are mindful of making this an environmentally friendly event -- we are thoughtfully planning for as little waste as possible and will be composting foodstuffs and disposables — to be aligned with Anne’s way of thinking as well as the many sustainable farms she worked with.
So many organizations and individuals have contributed to make this one of the most memorable food events of the year including Chelsea Market/Jamestown who have been partners in every stage of this event. Anne loved public markets, and her stores at Essex Market and later Chelsea Market changed the way Americans understood and purchased local food and ultimately transformed the destinies of many rural dairy communities in the Northeast. We are so excited to have our guests experience Chelsea Market in a new and unusual way.
For more information please contact event organizer Anna Harrington at Events@AnneSaxelbyLegacyFund.org.