Ain’t No Stoppin Us Now…

We’re on the move. We’ve got the groove.

And we had an awesome time last night. It was our first (and certainly not our last) year at the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance annual Turn Up the Heat Gala. The event featured 40 women chefs from the DC area who each provided a tasting menu for over 300 guests.

Preparing for this event the day after Valentine’s Day was quite the feat. But we dug right in and powered through. After a long, hard working weekend, Monday night proved to be a little rough, no lie. But, by staying up late Monday night, ’til 2am, through the exhaustion, we were able to sleep in a little on Tuesday. Jamilyah was able to get the day off from one job, only to work for GG instead. We started around 10am and were on schedule, if not early, all day long.

We got to the Ritz right on time for load-in and were immediately greeted by the most helpful volunteers who unloaded our car with us. They took our stuff to our table in the Grand Ballroom so we could park the car. We made our way inside and were excited to see lots of teal ribbons and white chef jackets.  Our supplies arrived at our well-situated table inside the ballroom just as we did.

After our quick set-up (we wanted to keep all of the treats packed away and fresh until the last minute), we found ourselves with lots of free time. We met our neighbors and tried their delicious treats, ice cream and cashew curry brittle. With an hour remaining before plating, we met other chefs, explored the other offerings, and tasted some great things from the cocktail hour chefs.

The appetizer round featured Rogue Ale, wines, cheese and even the Lobster truck! There was lamb, beet ravioli, lobster bisque and more in the great hall outside of the ballroom. Chefs in white (and black and green) jackets mingled with the guests in their fancy attire. Everything we tasted was so yummy.

Then the announcer said the ballroom would open for service in 20 minutes- it was go time! Our super helpful servers retrieved our cupcakes from the fridge and we began plating. Even though we were serving desserts, our table was popular from the moment people entered the room, and not just because we were stationed right next to Ris Lacoste. Our plates featured bite-sized versions of red velvet cupcakes, chocolate mint whoopie pies and our famous (and favorite) triple chocolate chip cookies and everyone who walked by took one, after reading our new About Us poster.

After the event we were invited to join some of the chefs at Ruth Gresser’s Pizzeria Paradiso/Birreria Paradiso. The food, hospitality and company were great. And as we looked around and saw recognizable faces and read well-known names off chef jackets, we couldn’t help but think how far we’ve come in the last 16 months.