JOHN BESH FOUNDATION
Every plate of prepared food emerges from a culinary world, the sphere
that encompasses the connections, cultures, labor and creativity necessary to bring that meal before the dinner. Culinary worlds are sustained by the relationships that enrich the food that results, from the farmer who sells his best produce to a local chef to a mother who places her grandmother's favorite recipe before a hungry son. When we pay attention to and cultivate the intersecting lives and activities that create a culinary world, the community itself can grow and flourish.
The John Besh Foundation provides scholarships, grants and loans to individuals in the New Orleans community with the passion, creativity and knowledge to enact change in their culinary worlds. The Foundation is dedicated to providing not only funding but also the structure and support essential to empowering its recipients fully. By design, each initiative of the John Besh Foundation holds sustainability as the key to having a lasting impact on the community.
John Besh is a chef and a native son dedicated to the culinary riches of southern Louisiana. In his restaurants, entrepreneurial pursuits,
and public activities, he preserves and promotes ingredients, techniques, and heritage one mouth-watering dish at a time. Besh grew up in southern Louisiana and has set the benchmark for fine dining in New Orleans – a town whose identity is bound to its food. Each of his six acclaimed restaurants (August, Besh Steak, Lüke, La Provence, American Sector, and Domenica) celebrates the bounty and traditions of the region. In late 2010 he’ll open his first restaurant outside of New Orleans with Lüke San Antonio River Walk in San Antonio, TX.
From the outset of his career, Besh’s talent and drive have earned him continuous kudos: Food & Wine named him one of the “Top 10 Best New Chefs in America” and his flagship restaurant August has featured on the late great Gourmet magazine’s “Guide to America’s Best Restaurants,” and “America’s Top 50 Restaurants.” Local publications keeping close tabs on the dining scene, like The Times-Picayune and New Orleans City Business, have applauded all his other restaurants as they’ve appeared and won the hearts and palates of discriminating diners. He won the James Beard Award for Best Chef of the Southeast in 2006, and was awarded Food Arts’ Silver Spoon Award in 2009 for revitalizing the culinary legacy of New Orleans. John Besh is a frequent guest chef on the NBC Today Show, and has appeared on top programs on The Food Network and the Sundance Channel, as well.
Besh’s devotion to local ingredients and local cuisine also extends to his entrepreneurial projects, including the creation of Besh Restaurant Group Catering; the launch of a line of gourmet products; and the publication of his first cookbook, My New Orleans (Andrews McMeel Publishing, October 2009.) A former U.S. Marine, Besh is proud to have partnered with Baton Rouge-based emergency reconstruction specialists Arkel International, for which he creates high quality ready-to-eat meals for distribution to thousands of emergency response
teams and sustained strategic operations in the U.S. and around the world; the novel initiative promotes the Gulf Coast’s food culture as
it elevates the Louisiana economy. In recognition of such far-reaching contributions, the Louisiana Restaurant Association named him Restaurateur of the Year in 2008.
Whether served as far afield as North Africa or the Middle East, or by his own hands in one of his New Orleans restaurants, a meal created by John Besh is a thoughtful, flavorful, meaningful delight.
Established in 2011, The John Besh Foundation provides scholarships, grants and loans to individuals in the New Orleans community with
the passion, creativity and knowledge to enact change in New Orleans and Louisiana. Chef John Besh created The John Besh Foundation
in order to better serve his community by bringing a focus to his efforts in New Orleans.
Through essential partnerships and generous donations, the Foundation promotes the preservation of the culinary history and culture of
New Orleans and Louisiana through the cultivation of new talent and thE support of local endeavors.
After Hurricane Katrina, many predicted that the city - and its proud culinary traditions - would never be the same. Instead, New Orleans rallied, and the return of po'boys and gumbo became a marker of that resurgence. The food of our city is at its best when it embraces the rich amalgamation of cultures the city represents. Likewise, the people of New Orleans will find their best future when we come together around a common table, something that The John Besh Foundation proposes to foster using the cross-cultural force of great food. Like food, which can represent sustenance and exuberance, relationship and new beginnings, the John Besh Foundation will build up communities and encourage new growth. It will celebrate New Orleans' past by building a lasting community - a culinary world - that can revel in what exists while sustainably cultivating further progress, talent, and opportunity.
John Besh [Founder]
Emery Whalen [Executive Director]
Reggie Bush [New Orleans Saints]
Octavio Mantilla [John Besh Restaurant Group]
Jessica Bride [Director Chefs Move! Scholarship]
Paul McIlhenny [McIlhenny Company]
Lolis Eric Elie [writer and filmmaker]
Wynton Marsalis [musician]
Melissa Harris-Perry, [Professor, Princeton University]
Tim Reily
Chefs Move! Scholarship Fundraiser
Kick off Cocktail Party
[at the home of Emery Clark & Ralph Whalen]
six o'clock in the evening
Saturday, the sixteenth of April
$100 per person
$75 per person is tax deductible and your payment will be processed by the John Besh Foundation.
Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from 6pm until sunset followed by tastings from La Provence, Luke Restaurant, August and Domenica.
Silent auction and raffle with Northshore and New Orleans prizes! Winners announced at 9pm.
Chef John Besh, the Directors of The John Besh Foundation and Advisory Committee of Chefs Move! invite you to a cocktail party kicking
off the start of Chefs Move! The John Besh & Bride Mayor Scholarship to The French Culinary Institute in New York City. Please join us for
an evening of specialty cocktails, award winning wine and food, exciting raffle and silent auction goodies with all proceeds benefiting Chefs Move! Click here to learn more about the scholarship. Visit this page again soon for more details about raffle and auction prizes.
Please call 504.267.2119 to purchase tickets or for additional information.
CHEFS MOVE! CLICK HERE FOR THE CHEFS MOVE WEBSITE
You need only visit a handful of New Orleans-area restaurant kitchens to recognize that the overall diversity you see at first glance is misleading; in fact, most members of minorities perform primarily the lower-paying, more menial labor and seldom hold kitchen management positions. This program is intended to take individuals with culinary aptitude and predilection but without professional training and give them an opportunity to become a sous chef or executive chef in order to increase their professional status, earning potential and ability to inspire others. ChefsMove! offers the recipient a full scholarship to The French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, allowing the individual to expand
his or her horizons and perspective with the expectation that he or she will return to New Orleans to become a leader in the New Orleans’ culinary scene. Upon graduation from FCI, the recipient is also guaranteed an internship in a John Besh restaurant to initiate their career
as a chef.
click to enlarge / click to return to thumbnails
MICRO LOANS TO LOCAL FARMERS
There are so many farmers in Louisiana who have a marketable, delicious product but are unable to financially support the steps necessary to increase production and take their vegetables, milk, eggs or meat to the local farmers market, grocery store or restaurant kitchens. This program intends to select local farmers for a series of micro-loans that will provide the financial support needed while simultaneously assisting the farmers with marketing and business strategy. The micro-loans will be consistent with the mission of the John Besh Foundation, to provide support, mentoring and structure in addition to financial backing. Partnerships with local MBA programs will offer each loan recipient an assigned team to support them as they take steps to increase their business and the distribution of their product. As the farmers increase their revenue, they will, with the advice of their team, repay the loan to the Foundation, ensuring the sustainability of the program.
Interested in being a part of The Chef John Besh Foundation and giving back to our New Orleans?
Email us: giveback_chefjohnbesh.com
OR
Click here to make a donation!
Emery Whalen [Executive Director, John Besh Foundation]
426 Gravier Street
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
ewhalen_chefjohnbesh.com
504.299.9777 [ext. 313]
Checkout
JOHN BESH FOUNDATION • NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA • COPYRIGHT 2011
BE A PART OF SOMETHING GREAT.
