I went back and forth about going to this year’s Chef’s Gala for the Northeast Ohio Autism Foundation. But once I saw the list of chefs, I knew I had to go. Essentially every chef in Cleveland was there, including Chef Anna from Anna in the Raw, Chef Hodge, Chef Fabio, Chef Sawyer and Chef Rocco to name a few. The Cleveland Art Museum was decked out in blue for Autism and the gorgeous atrium was lined with the chefs.

Love this space

A few favorites: Chef Anna, Amelia and Chef Sawyer, Stephanie and Chef Hodge

The headliners? My favorite, Chef Symon and his co-host from The Chew, Mario Batali! I’ve been planning and hoping to go to NYC again this Fall in order to visit The Chew so this was almost like a mini version of that.

Each chef offered up a small plate, while Symon and Batali created an interactive dinner. Let’s just say this, if I had a couple thousand dollars to drop, I would have paid to be on stage and having the two of them cook for me.

My favorite!

Post-event, the party continued at Trentina with Chef and Amelia Sawyer. Bottles were popping, stories were being told and lots of laughs were happening. Needless to say it was the perfect way to spend a Saturday night. And I know my friends were loving the text messages I was sending their way.

Who’s your favorite Cleveland Chef?