For the seventh year running, Chef Bill Kim and Cornerstone Restaurant Group will host Chefsgiving the weekend before Thanksgiving — expanding the reach to Chicagoans across the city to become the biggest event yet by donating approximately 1,000 Thanksgiving meals to food insecure individuals in Chicago. In partnership with Inspiration Kitchens, Caviar, and DoorDash, Kim and more than 35 Chicago chefs will prepare ready-to-eat meals that will be distributed to local shelters free of cost.
Chef Kim and friends will prepare hundreds of meals to be served at Inspiration Kitchens in East Garfield Park. Dozens of other chefs will each prepare 20 complete meals to be delivered to south and central locations via Caviar and DoorDash.
“As we gather once again for the holidays, I think every Chicagoan deserves to have a Thanksgiving meal, especially our neighbors in need,” said Chef Bill Kim, “Chicago Chefs have helped Ukraine, Tigray, and Puerto Rico, and I’m so proud of our community to step up again to help the most vulnerable in our community.”
Beloved Chicago chefs participating this year include:
Rodolfo Cuadros from Amaru
Doug Psaltis from Andros Taverna
Dylan Patel from Avec
Beatrix Market at DePaul
Nick Chaskin from BLVD Steakhouse
Lee Wolen from Boka Restaurant Group
Chris Pandel from Cira
Cedric Harden from Cornerstone Restaurant Group
Joe Frillman from Daisie’s
Aaron Cuschieri from The Dearborn
Kevin Hickey from Duck Inn
Donald Young from Duck Sel
Danny Grant from Etta River North
Brian Jupiter from Frontier
Zach Engel from Galit
Federico Comacchio from Gioia
John Boudouvas from The Good Plate Hospitality Group
Brian Pett from Hampton Social River North
Christine Cikowski and Joshua Kulp from Honey Butter Fried Chicken
Noah Zamler from Irene’s
Jose Davila from Jaleo
Jan Rickerl from Little Goat
Jason Hammel from Lula Cafe
Marcos Campos from Mama Delia
Sari Worsham from MFK
Diana Davila from Mi Tocaya
Thomas Oh and Andrew Lim from Perilla
Tony Priolo from Piccolo Sogno
Danny Sweis from Ragadan
Joe Flamm from Rose Mary
Fred Chung from Scofflaw
Andrew Zimmerman from Sepia and Proxi
Amando Auleley from The Smith
John and Karen Urie Shields from Smyth + The Loyalist
D’Andre Carter from Soul & Smoke
Connie Pikukas from Spoonfed
Aaron Steingold from Steingold’s Deli
Mike Vilarosa from Swift & Sons
Devin Kreller from Wood
For the first year ever, Chefsgiving has partnered with Caviar and DoorDash to help with deliveries across the city.
“In continuation of our long-standing partnership with Chef Bill Kim, DoorDash/Caviar is proud to support Chefsgiving and the local Chicago community as a sponsor to provide in-kind donations to those less fortunate,” said a DoorDash spokesperson.
Meals will directly go to Inspiration Corporation’s community-based partners, Fourth Presbyterian, and Lyte Collective to help expand the event’s reach— among others.
This complimentary event is tied to Kim’s tradition of cooking at Inspiration Kitchens each Thanksgiving. Kim and other fellow chefs will also once again gather at Inspiration Kitchens — a local nonprofit that helps people affected by homelessness and poverty access meals, social services, employment training, and housing — to create and cook trays of their favorite holiday dishes to build a complete Thanksgiving buffet meal for communities in need.
Kim and the participating chefs encourage fans to help support the Chefsgiving and Inspiration Corporation by donating here.
About Cornerstone Restaurant Group
Cornerstone Restaurant Group and affiliate Jump Higher, L.L.C., led by restaurateurs David Zadikoff and Josh Zadikoff, in partnership with Michael Jordan, oversee all Michael Jordan-brand restaurants, including Michael Jordan’s Steak Houses (Chicago, Connecticut, Oak Brook, Portland), MJ23 Sports Bar & Grill (Connecticut), and SolToro Restaurant (Connecticut). Cornerstone’s growing Asian ventures with Chef Bill Kim include fast-casual urbanbelly in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood and Chef Bill Kim’s Ramen Bar at Time Out Market in Chicago’s Fulton Market.
In 2019, Cornerstone partnered with retailer Crate & Barrel to open a full-service restaurant, The Table at Crate, in its Oakbrook Center location, with Kim leading the menu development. Cornerstone also manages operations for ENO Wine Room (Chicago, San Francisco). In 2022, Cornerstone opened a five-concept restaurant development at Purdue University featuring urbanbelly, Chef Bill Kim’s Pizza & Parm Shop, SolToro and more, as well as urbanbelly at the Williamsburg Market in Brooklyn, New York.
About Inspiration Kitchens
Each year, Inspiration Corporation works with hundreds of resilient Chicagoans facing a wide variety of barriers, such as homelessness, hunger, and social isolation. In order to help individuals and families overcome these barriers, Inspiration Corporation provides housing, meals, job training, scholarships, and homeless engagement services.
Inspiration Corporation meets people where they are in life, helping them access the support they need and achieve their personal goals. At Inspiration Kitchens, our social enterprise restaurant and training facility in East Garfield Park, we provide training in the culinary arts, where participants receive support beyond skills training, helping them overcome challenges and pursue their goals. Inspiration Kitchens also helps graduates of the program find and retain jobs in the industry.
The 8-week program equips participants with the basic skills needed to enter the culinary industry, including professionally recognized certification, kitchen safety practices, basic culinary techniques, and resume building and other soft skills training. In response to the pandemic, Inspiration Kitchens also began producing and distributing free, nutritious meals to those in need across Chicago.
Featured Image: Duck Sel
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