WINDSOR, Ont. — “Going for the Gold” is the theme of Friday’s fundraiser dinner and gala in Windsor, Ont., where some 150 guests will support the Canadian Culinary Federation’s (CCFCC) Canadian National Culinary Team. The team is preparing for the World Association of Chefs (WACS) 24th Culinary Olympics to be held in Erfurt, Germany June 28, 2016.
Sponsored by the Windsor Culinary Guild and local leaders (chefs Vincenzo Del Duca and John Kukucka), it will be the first fundraising event that will feature a meal prepared by the team. In keeping with Olympic rules, the night will involve serving 110 guests a hot three-course meal prepared in under five hours.
And, while the number of guests will exceed the Olympic 110 requirement, “this dinner will provide the team with the opportunity to practise together under Olympic conditions similar to what they will encounter in competition, for international adjudication,” said Del Duca, proprietor of chef Vincenzo’s Tuscan Experience, Windsor.
Some 120 tickets for the event, priced at $250 each, were sold within days of the announcement. “We’re sold out based on the verbal orders we have received,” said Kukucka. He attributed the success to 10-ticket sponsorship marketing. For example a gold sponsorship of $5,000 included 10 dinner and gala tickets, a photo with the team, Team Canada Home Cookbooks, two customized National Team chefs jackets, a behind-the-scenes visit into the kitchens during the gala and six tickets for a “VIP evening” at Rodstead Manor on Firework’s Night, June 24.
The dinner and gala will be held at the Essex Golf and Country Club, where John Kukucka helms the kitchen as executive chef. Kukucka and Del Duca expect proceeds of $12,000 to $14,000 to support the team’s training and required travels to international qualifying events.
Chefs Vincenzo Del Duca and John Kukucka are 2012 inductees into the Honour Society of
the Canadian Culinary Federation, the association’s highest honour.
