About fifteen years after a handful of Harbor East chefs decided food stations were boring, Baltimore's Passion for Food & Wine gala is back at the Four Seasons Hotel with a lineup of the city's most recognizable chefs and a $525,000 fundraising target for cystic fibrosis research. The event lands on September 18, with chefs Ben Lefenfeld and Carlos Raba among those who discussed the gala on air, an interactive format that has become the gala's signature draw since it launched.
According to CBS News, Lefenfeld and Raba appeared on air to tell viewers more about the gala, which brings together Baltimore's top acclaimed chefs and restaurateurs in support of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation lists the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore as this year's venue, with the $525,000 goal earmarked for research and care supported by the foundation's Maryland Chapter.
An Interactive Format Born in Harbor East
The gala's format sets it apart from a typical benefit dinner. Launched around 2011 by a group of Harbor East chefs, Passion for Food & Wine replaced standard buffet-style food stations with an arrangement where each participating chef prepares a custom four-to-five-course tasting menu, paired with wines, for an assigned table of 12 guests, per Baltimore Fishbowl. The setup gives diners direct, close-up access to chefs who might otherwise be working a line in the kitchen all night.
The format has proven durable and lucrative for the cause. At the September 2019 event, 17 participating Baltimore chefs helped raise more than $375,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Maryland, according to the Maryland Daily Record. This year's $525,000 goal marks a substantial jump from that benchmark.
A Fine-Dining Pedigree Behind the Tasting Menus
Lefenfeld brings a résumé built across some of Baltimore's most respected kitchens. The executive chef and co-owner of Woodberry Basque restaurant La Cuchara served as chef de cuisine at Petit Louis Bistro and trained under chef Cindy Wolf at Charleston before launching La Cuchara, according to the restaurant's own account. He also runs dining concepts.
Lefenfeld has had an eventful year outside the gala circuit. In April, he opened Seppia, a 250-seat coastal Italian concept in Hampden's historic 1901 G.C. Murphy building. Earlier in the year, a hood fire temporarily closed La Cuchara, as Hoodline previously reported. The team transferred roughly 40 La Cuchara employees to staff the new Hampden location during the buildout.
Raba, the other chef featured in the CBS News segment, co-founded Remington taqueria Clavel and also cooks at Stoneleigh restaurant Nana. Raised in Sinaloa, Mexico, Raba led Clavel to become a James Beard Award finalist for Outstanding Bar in 2024, per the Maryland Daily Record. He co-founded Clavel in 2015 alongside business partner Lane Harlan.
A Chef's Community Work Beyond the Kitchen
Raba's ties to Baltimore run deeper than his restaurants. He is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who founded Guardian Gym in Baltimore, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit offering free martial arts and yoga classes to youth aged 6 through 17, according to Clavel. The gym aims to remove financial barriers to youth fitness in the city.
Why the Fundraising Still Matters
The stakes behind the gala's champagne-and-tasting-menu exterior are medical. The disease's outlook has improved dramatically since the 1950s, when children with cystic fibrosis rarely reached school age. That progress reflects decades of research funded in part by events like Passion for Food & Wine.
The disease has also shifted from a childhood diagnosis to one many patients live with well into adulthood. More than 30,000 people in the United States live with cystic fibrosis. Even so, advances in treatment have not eliminated the need for continued research funding.
Locally, fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation's Maryland Chapter supports medical research and accredited care centers. Chapter fundraising initiatives underscore how deeply the fundraising infrastructure is woven into the region's civic life well beyond a single September gala.
