A Picnic In Paradise At The Sylvia Center’s 14th Annual Summer Benefit
At the end of a dirt road lined with sunflowers, a vision appeared. In a sea of white picnic tables and towering pines, the curl of smoke from a pizza oven hovered over happy humans in straw hats dining al fresco on the very soil from which their food sprung. It could only be a scene from The Sylvia Center's 14th Annual Summer Benefit Saturday, July 24 at Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook, New York. The event was hosted by Great Performances in the form of an evening picnic, each guest receiving a beautifully curated picnic basket filled with the essentials for great dining.
One straw hatted individual, Charlie Baum, son of Joe Baum, a restaurant impresario who re-shaped Windows on the World, The Four Seasons, and The Rainbow Room said his father would be very impressed with the event.
"He was all for casual good food, especially a picnic with local food growing all around like this one. It has such a broad reach," said Baum with a sweep of his arm to include children playing hide and seek in a pollinator garden, guests in flowing summer attire, and a smattering of dogs.
Ruth Reichl, author and restaurant critic, graced one of the event picnic tables and held forth on topics including her relationship to the event.
"I have enormous respect for Liz," Reichl said of Liz Neumark, the founder of The Sylvia Center, a 14-year-old non-profit organization based in NYC and Kinderhook that provides local food education programming to children, teens, and families. "The food world is very small and she is the best and I would do anything for her," said Reichl who, in the early days of COVID began working on a documentary after grasping the potential devastation for the American food supply chain.
Others in attendance had similar accolades for Neumark, such as Executive Director Jonathan Cetnarski, who met her at a James Beard event several years ago and found the vision of her organization irresistible.
"We are having a moment," he said.. "Right now, the relevance of good food education has a much more important meaning."
Last year during COVID the Sylvia Center provided meal kits of healthy, local fruits, bread and vegetables, and granola ingredients in combination with education in the form of Zoom cooking classes in Philmont and other Columbia County towns.
"It was a huge success because we were able to reach up to 15 families at once," Cetnarski said. "Local kids are surrounded by this," he said gesturing to the fields of flowers, fruit and vegetables of Katchkie Farm, "but many still don't get fresh food."
Guests had a chance to enter to win the Hudson Valley Local Rafflepalooza, with all proceeds supporting The Sylvia Center’s programming. Its mission: to educate youth on the connection between food and health, empowering them to lead healthier lives.
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