Cooking with Class 2019

It's time to cook with your favorite chef!

What can you say about a fundraiser that's been around for 18 years? It is still so much fun! If you love food and wine, cooking with or watching pros in action, this is for you.

First, the amazing location. Gerry and Kathy Kingen, owners of Salty's Seafood Grills, have donated the entire banquet floor at Salty's on Alki for 18 years. You read that right. They love that the event benefits seniors. After all, they purchased the Beach Broiler from Joyce Entus and turned it into Salty's on Alki. Joyce stayed on as hostess for a time, but they never lost contact and, in fact, cared for her the rest of her life. So the senior thing, kind of personal to them. And the view? Well, you know.

Salty's on Alki

Second, the amazing chefs. They work at a round table with a single heat source, and eight guests. Yet they make things like kale crepe stuffed with wild mushrooms and lemon ricotta (Ba Culbert of Tilikum Place Café); sumac-seasoned steelhead salmon fillet, grilled young fennel, green onions, wild Pacific Northwest mushrooms, pluot-citrus compote (David Flegel, Hyatt Regency Lake Washington); and spiced, marinated, and seared leg of lamb with cucumber raita, yellow lentil daal, and naan (Peter Levine, Talaris Conference Center).

There are chefs who have been supporting the event for years: Paolo DiGregorio (Salty's on Alki), Wayne Johnson (FareStart), Jeff Maxfield (SkyCity/Collections Café), and Peter Levine. This year we have a number of new chefs, which is very exciting as well: Young Cho of the food truck Phorale, Ben Closson of All Water Seafood & Oyster House, Kim Cosway of Heartwood Provisions, Josh Delgado of Le Coin, Adam Gerlitz of Revolve True Food & Wine, Roger Harper of Tavolàta Belltown, Ross Lewis of W Hotel Seattle/TRACE, Zack Ramirez from the Vulcan Culinary Team, Carolynn Spence of Shaker + Spear, and Michela Tartaglia of Pasta Casalinga.

Third, you get to hands-on make the dishes they've chosen with them. Get in there, pull on those gloves that Salty's provides so you can handle food, and get those chef tips! Once your group completes your dish, you eat it. Plus wineries have paired their wines with the specific dishes, so you can savor the food and wine together. Wineries include Baer, Rotie Cellars, Dowsett Family, Dusted Valley Archery Summit, Davenport Cellars, Dunham Cellars, Torii Mor, Forgeron Cellars, Buty, Tomero, Sparkman Cellars, Bodega Garzon, Chateau Ste. Michelle, Treveri, Long Shadows, Hightower Cellars, AntoLin.

Fourth, inside and on the deck outside, there are tasting tables with a variety of wines, Pike Brewing beer, and French Cider. Salty's Catering provides appetizers before the classes start, and you can certainly nibble away during the brief breaks. Salty's also feeds the volunteers prior to the event starting, and hosts volunteers and chefs afterward for a bite.

Chef Peter Levine

Fifth, there's a very fun raffle (culinary and travel-related items), and a live auction with auctioneer Fred Northup, Jr. and Salty's Corporate Executive Chef Jeremy McLachlan amusing you as they raise funds for seniors assisted by programs through the Pike Place Market Foundation.

We have new and returning sponsors this year: Delta Airlines, Sur la Table, American Lamb Board, Coca-Cola, French Cider, Bargreen-Ellingson. Their sponsorships allow us to give even more to our senior beneficiaries. And they do even more, the American Lamb Board is providing lamb to two of our chefs for their dishes; Coca-Cola is providing a sports-themed basket for raffle/auction; Sur la Table sends a chef, Meredith Abbott, to teach one the classes (artisan pizzettes!), French Cider brings cider for tasting and is going to send all guests home with a small bottle of cider. They just keep giving.

It's really a near-perfect evening with great tastes and sips before classes, fun times with chefs, and your donations that help make peoples' lives safe, healthy, and more comfortable. As the sun goes down and the city skyline lights up, we can all be grateful to live in such a beautiful area with such giving chefs, owners, wineries, sponsors. All this and it's fun, too.

We're grateful to the guests who come year after year or sign up for the first time. Join us!

Cooking with Class
at Salty's on Alki
1936 Harbor Ave SW
Seattle, WA

Info and registration: www.seattledining.com/cwc
Still have questions? Email connie@seattledining.com