Chefs Evening, held in the Pennington Student Activity Center on Sunday, April 1 from 4:30  to 8 p.m., was a red carpet affair. Guests and patrons were brought to the red carpet for the full VIP experience complete with paparazzi. Guests quickly found their way inside and to the main event.

Jacki Bellairs, Southeastern Foundation annual fund coordinator, considered the increased size and the energy of the event was a success.

“This has been a great evening. It has turned out much better than I had ever thought it would be,” said Bellairs. “I think that there’s a lot more excitement from the beginning from when we had the red carpet and the band all the way to the silent auction items. We have more restaurants than ever. I would call it a success.”

In total, Chefs Evening featured 43 different vendors with a wide variety of food and drink choices. For those with a taste for southwestern style food, Santa Fe Cattle Company was serving up Jalapeño Texas Sausage and Chicken Flautas.

“This is our first year. It’s been great,” said Santa Fe Cattle Company Manager Brian Lemoine. “It’s going to get our name out there.”

For many guests, this event was as much about networking as it was sampling the food. Walking around the floor, there were a number of Southeastern professors and faculty members as well as supporters from the community.

Southeastern President John L. Crain enjoyed the evening and explained that the event actually directly benefited students.

“The thing that sometimes we lose sight of is that all of the proceeds go to support our academic programs, so really this directly benefits our students,” said Crain. “I think that’s kind of neat that we can have this much fun and really support our programs that are here for our students.”

Chefs Evening Coordinator Michelle Gallo was also pleased with the evening and attributed the success to the Chefs Evening Committee.

“We have a great turnout, the music was spectacular, the food is amazing and it looks like everyone is having a good time,” said Gallo. “This was a task that was put on by a committee, the Chefs Evening Committee. Those folks are Alexis Ducorbier, Guy Recotta, Brian Goghres, Tracy Farris and Cassie Ragan.”

In addition to the food, the evening had a live auction and silent auctions. Buddies Bar & Grill was voted Best Restaurant for their grilled oysters and grilled shrimp.

Chefs Evening is an annual fundraising event put on by the Southeastern Development Foundation.