Fried grit cakes, a Saints Junior Captain experience, and cocktails with Mayor Helena Moreno were all on the table Wednesday as the New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute threw its annual Cooking for a Cause fundraiser downtown. The gala doubled as a showcase for the school's own graduates, with celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse and board treasurer Kathy Hebert, CPA, honored as the evening's guests of honor.
Wild Bill Wood, the features reporter for WGNO's Good Morning New Orleans, got into the kitchen ahead of the event with Chef Blair Tiller, a culinary professor at NOCHI, who prepared her fried grit cakes for the occasion. NOCHI itself trains students for jobs in restaurant kitchens across the city, and the fundraiser is built to keep that pipeline running through scholarship dollars.
The fundraiser supports NOCHI scholarships, according to a report from Biz New Orleans.
An Auction Running Through Thursday
The online silent auction tied to the event doesn't close when the party ends. Per the same Biz New Orleans report, bidding continues through Thursday at 5 p.m., with items including an eight-day Viking European river cruise, a Saints Junior Captain experience, and a stay in a Four Seasons Presidential Suite. One of the more personal packages on offer: cocktails with Mayor Moreno at Commander's Palace, according to the seed listing cited by WGNO.
Moreno is New Orleans' mayor, according to the City of New Orleans.
Another auction item comes from chef Mason of Turkey and the Wolf, who is offering to cook dinner at a winning bidder's home, per the event listing. Hoodline readers may recognize the name from recent reporting on his Maple Street closure.
Alumni Take Center Stage
The night's menu leaned heavily on NOCHI's own graduates. Dishes included smoked turkey and collard dumplings from alum Narcisse Burchell, highlighted in event coverage. Involving graduates in the fundraiser reinforces the institute's broader mission of building an active professional network among former students.
NOCHI is located at 725 Howard Ave. in the Central Business District, according to Biz New Orleans. Its core certificate tracks in Culinary Arts and Baking & Pastry Arts run six months.
Ti Martin is NOCHI's board chair. The institute provides workforce training.
Cooking for a Cause
Cooking for a Cause is NOCHI's annual fundraiser. Wednesday's in-person gathering was scheduled to feature alumni-cooked plates and a mayoral auction package.
NOCHI shares its Howard Avenue building with Tulane University's School of Architecture, which leased 25,000 square feet across the second and fourth floors for its graduate programs in historic preservation, real estate development and architecture, according to Tulane's School of Architecture.
