CHEFS ON BIKES TO ROLL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

Sterling, VA --  On an anniversary roll, leading chefs and hospitality professionals

from Washington, DC, and the mid-Atlantic region will celebrate the fifth annual Chefs on

Bikes tour, June 24, 2008, with a motorcycle cavalcade through the Virginia countryside,

lending new momentum to the unique culinary networking-entertainment event and its goal

of raising funds for Share Our Strength (SOS).

More than 70 chefs will rally at the Bistro Bis restaurant on Capitol Hill, before

wheeling off on a 100-mile trip, to check on the current culinary market – and to contribute         

to the SOS campaign to end childhood hunger in America.  The 2008 financial goal: to

boost the approximately $50,000 netted from last year’s tour.  Donations from friends,

colleagues, and sponsors support the chef-riders.  

“This event gets better and better each year,“ said Billy Shore, founder and executive

director of Share Our Strength.  “And I anticipate 2008 will be another record-breaking year.”

Started in 2004 as a gathering of culinary professionals from the DC-area, with 

a shared passion for motorcycles, the group linked up the following year with Share Our

Strength and its national anti-hunger drive.  Since then, the annual event has attracted

interest – and riders – from around the country.

“More and more chefs are participating, helping to push us to new milestones in

raising funds for SOS,” said Jean-Philippe Krukowicz, former chef who now heads  

Kruko, a Washington, DC, foodservice company.  Mr. Krukowicz is chairman and co-founder

of Chefs on Bikes with Scott Hamberger, co-president-C.E.O., at Fortessa, the Sterling, VA-

based tableware company.  “We’re proud to be a partner in the success of Chefs on Bikes in

promoting the SOS campaign  – and in the process, helping to build the culinary community

in our industry,” noted Mr. Hamberger

Leading chefs participating in this year’s ride include: R. J. Cooper, chef de cuisine,

at Vidalia; David Wizenberg, partner, at Passion Food, LLC; Dany Abi-Najm, executive

chef at Lebanese Tavern, all of Washington, DC; and Philippe Feret, executive chef at

Brasserie Julien and Allure Catering, New York City. 

First stop on the day-long trek will be at Fortessa, official presenter of the anniversary

tour.  Mr. Hamberger will welcome riders for a visit to the company’s popular retail shop

and a tour of the Fortessa showroom.  Other educational stops will include a visit at Clyde’s,

at Willow Creek Farm, Broadlands, VA, with an outdoor luncheon hosted by Clyde’s.  

The tour will end at Villa La Campagnette, B&B and residence of Chef Alain Borel,

Boyce, VA, culminating in a gala anniversary party, with food, entertainment and a BBQ

cook-off:  Ten top chefs, performing for their peers, will vie for prizes in a BBQ contest. 

Culinary celebrities and local media personalities will be on hand to judge the competition.

“Chefs on Bikes is a unique way to network with industry colleagues – and contribute

to a great cause at the same time,” noted Fortessa’s Scott Hamberger. Last year, Fortessa

received the SOS Leadership Innovation Award for its production of Chefs on Bikes.  The

award recognizes individuals and corporations that have shown outstanding support of the

non-profit group’s programs that help feed more than 12-million hungry children each year. 

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