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The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Local chefs feed Lion supporters

    chef serves guest

    Steve Wilson (above right), chef at Buddies Steakhouse, serves patrons samples
    of grits and shrimp.  
    The Lion’s Roar / Allison Crady

    Louisianans’ passion for food and entertainment were celebrated at the annual Chefs Evening, giving guests the opportunity to enjoy foods from various chefs and restaurants while also helping the school.

    The Southeastern Louisiana University Foundation hosted the 31st Chefs Evening Sunday, March 8 at 5:30 p.m. at the Student Union Ballroom. It featured numerous chefs and restaurants including Southeastern’s own catering, Blythewood Plantation, Buddies Bar and Grill, Cate Street Seafood Station, Gnarly Barley Brewing, Jacmel Inn, Lil’ Miss Winnie’s, PJ’s Coffee, Raising Canes, The Boston Restaurant, The Panini Bistro and Tope la Restaurant.

    A couple of things were different this year, such as the silent auction and the table set for wine tasting and cheeses. The silent auction occurred throughout the event, as the guests were able to still move from table to table to try the foods on display.

    These restaurants catered various foods, ranging from filet cutlets from the Caboose Restaurant to salmon from Benedict’s Catering to Chinese cuisine from Trey Yuen, frozen custard from Eddie’s Frozen Custard and cake from the Cocoa Bean Bakery and Cafe to top it off. In addition to the food, there was wine tasting and champagne to enjoy as well, both provided by Acquistapace’s Covington Supermarket.

    “Chefs Evening seems to be going well,” said Miss Southeastern 2015 Emily Randon. “Everyone is having fun and the food is delicious. I haven’t tried all of them yet, but Jacmel is my all-time favorite in Hammond.”

    In addition to guests enjoying the food provided and mingling with one another, they were also given the chance to support Southeastern’s academics by participating in the silent auction. The silent auction offered a range of items, including shell pearl necklace, spa treatments, hotel getaway for two, Houmas House Plantation getaway and Turtle Cove Evening Cruise. These were only a few of many they auctioned to guests. 

    There was also a drop and draw raffle, where guests could buy tickets and place them under items displayed for a chance to win them. These items ranged from a gift certificate for Painting with a Twist to a membership at the Spoga Fitness Center. 

    Chefs Evening is one of Southeastern’s most important fundraising opportunities, where the proceeds go to the academics of the school, usually funneled into scholarships and academic programs.

    “One of the nice things about Chefs Evening is that it traditionally raises money that goes to academic departments,” said university President John Crain. “Because the money goes through our foundation, it is available for them to use for a variety of things they can’t spend university dollars for. There are a lot of restrictions. This gives [the departments] a little money if you divide it out for programs.”

    The event was such a success that all the tickets were sold and the foundation is now considering moving the event to a bigger location. 

    “They are going to need to move Chefs Evening somewhere else because they are running out of space,” said Randon. “So that is good news to hear there is such a high demand for Chefs Evening.” 

    According to many, the event was successful in both fundraising and entertaining guests.

    “I think this was one of our best events,” said Crain. “It was very well attended. It was not that we just had a nice crowd, but we had a nice mix. I think they had a lot of great auction items, and we had wonderful corporate sponsors. So, I think they did well on the fundraising side. These kinds of events are both about the fundraising opportunity and the fun-raising opportunity. We like to get community people in and have them connect with the university. It was a success all-around.”

    For more information on the Chefs Evening event in general, visit the university’s website.

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