Hangin' out with a few celeb chefs...

My uncle is an administrator at St. Joseph's Hospital in Paterson, and invited me to a great event that raises money for their children's services.  It was their fifth year running it and from what he said, it gets bigger and better every year.  My sister and I were honored to attend, knowing it was for a very good cause, and also excited that there would be representation from many good local restaurants.  Who can go wrong with good food and wine, all donated for a meaningful charity?

Everything was delicious - and there was SO much to choose from - I didn't even make it to half the tables!  The wine was flowing, the band was playing, and there were some great gifts being auctioned off.  Such a great night out.

Soooo, I was happy to find someone who I've talked about a lot here lately when we first arrived...

Yes, that is Lidia Bastianich...the person I was thrilled to spend some time with on the phone last month.  I introduced myself and she was very sweet, thanking me again for contributing my pasta e fagioli to her website.  I was so honored!

Now, I know I have a lot of readers who are Top Chef fans...anyone who watched Season 5 is well aware of who this lovely lady is...

Ariane Duarte (who in my opinion, got robbed on TC and should have gone all the way!), well known chef and owner of CulinAriane, was just as wonderful in person as I imagined she would be!  So friendly and warm...and her ricotta spring vegetable crostini was delicious.  We're looking forward to dining there soon...hopefully Ariane is reading this now (I gave her my card!) and will save us a great table :)

All in all, it was a fantastic evening...my uncle assured me this will become an annual thing, and I'm more than happy about that!