3 Dinner Parties Coming to Food52 in December

Line cooks are the unsung heroes of a restaurant kitchen. They’re the crew that plates your tartare and cleans out the deep fryer every night. The team that stays late so you can order half the menu five minutes before closing—and then organizes, sanitizes, and prepares every inch of a restaurant before it opens the next day. These often-overlooked culinary pros will soon play a starring role, though, in a series of Monday night dinners hosted at Food52 in partnership with OpenTable starting Dec. 4.

Called The Lineup, the series features current and former cooks from NYC restaurants Don Angie, Cosme, and Misi and is the brainchild of chef and Today Show Culinary Contributor Elena Besser. She came up with the concept after working for a year and a half on the opening team of Missy Robbins’ famed restaurant, Lilia, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

That experience inspired Elena to put together a team that celebrates the behind-the-scenes work that line cooks do by bringing them front and center for diners.

“This is a platform to gain experience and the confidence to possibly take the next step in their careers, or just feel reinvigorated by the restaurant industry in general,” said Elena. It’s also a chance for head chefs—who will be in attendance—to show support for their staff.

“Great people will gravitate toward supportive work environments,” Elena said. “It could even encourage the participating cooks to stay at their restaurant even longer because of their love for the chef and the work culture the restaurant provides.”

The Lineup gives each cook the opportunity to run their own restaurant for the night, starting with concepting and curating the menu. The cooks then work with the Lineup team to bring their vision to life through table settings, beverage curation, music, hiring kitchen and back-of-house staff—and providing constructive feedback. Said Elena: “They workshop their food…to make it as great as it can possibly be and execute it successfully for service.”

Each dinner is held on a Monday night, traditionally the designated day off for many restaurant professionals, with two seatings at 5:30 pm and 8:30 pm at Food25’s headquarters in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Tickets are $195 and include an opening bite and welcome cocktail, followed by a curated, five-course menu and wine pairing, all with stunning views of Manhattan.

Here are the upcoming dinners to snag tickets to:

December 4: Drew Johnson, Sous Chef at Don Angie
From The Lineup: “Chef Drew Johnson, Sous Chef at Italian powerhouse, Don Angie, will be cooking up an amazing menu combining his love of Caribbean food with his training in Italian cuisine for a fusion that is not to be missed.”

December 11: Ali Ghriskey, formerly of Misi
From The Lineup: “Chef Ali Ghriskey's menu will be a journey into her past, with cozy foods inspired by childhood memories, her time spent in cooking school in Ireland, and her training under renowned chefs like Floyd Cardoz and Missy Robbins.”

December 18: Philipp Kharabarin formerly of Cosme
From The Lineup: “Chef Philipp Kharabarin will be rounding out the series with a meal that combines inspiration from his upbringing in St. Petersburg, Russia, with his years spent cooking at the indispensable Mexican staple, Cosme.”

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Know of any unsung cooks The Lineup should feature next? Let us know in the comments.