Top chefs unite for Hospice of the Valley
Hospice of the Valley’s annual fundraiser, Off the Vine Vintage Wine Auction, has made some big changes this year, from a new setting to a new team of chefs.
After 15 years at the Royal Palms Resort in Phoenix, the event has moved to the new Mountain Shadows Resort in Paradise Valley. And when guests arrive on Friday, Oct. 13, they’ll find some of the Valley’s most talented chefs behind five food stations:
» Host chef Charles Wiley, executive chef at Mountain Shadow’s signature restaurant, Hearth ‘61.
» Cullen Campbell from Crudo and Okra Cookhouse and Cocktails in Phoenix.
» Gio Osso of Virtù Honest Craft in Scottsdale and Nico Heirloom Kitchen in Gilbert.
» Walter Sterling from Ocotillo in Phoenix.
» Stephen Jones from The Larder + The Delta, previously at DeSoto Central Market.
“We wanted a fresh experience this year, we’re changing the format as well and thought it would be the perfect time,” said Liz Gerlach, co-chair of Off the Vine. “There are so many amazing chefs in Phoenix and we want to represent what they are doing and how successful they have been.”
The chef stations will each feature a specialty dish. Wiley plans to serve short rib agnolotti, a popular dish at Hearth ‘61; and tortellino filled with wild mushrooms and mascarpone.
“We are setting the stage for all the visiting chefs. It provides great energy in the kitchen to have visiting chefs come, and the staff gets excited,” he said. “We also love connecting with the guests, which doesn’t happen often at our restaurants because we are busy behind the stove or expediting.”
Besides silent and live auctions, the evening will feature a wine pull — mystery wine bags for purchase. Auction items include:
» A private dinner for eight with celebrated Phoenix chef Chris Bianco.
» Trips to Napa Valley, the Mediterranean and Champagne, France.
» Rare wines including 2011 selections from French.
In 2016, Off the Vine raised more than $100,000 for the non-profit hospice, whose mission is to promote “comfort and dignity as life nears its end.”
Proceeds benefit the agency’s Salutes to Veterans program, featuring volunteer veterans presenting lapel pins to veteran patients. Funds also will go to a program called Honoring First Responders.
“Hospice of the Valley provides such an important service at a time when people are the most vulnerable in their lives,” Wiley said. “There are many great organizations that are all about research and fighting disease, but Hospice so humbly takes care of folks so near the end of their lives.”
Details: 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13. Mountain Shadows Resort, 5445 E. Lincoln Drive, Paradise Valley. $250. 602-5306900, hov.org/events/off-the-vine.