Big Jones (5347 N. Clark St., 773-275-5725) is hosting a six-course dinner to benefit the Edna Lewis Foundation.
The organization promotes the late chef’s legacy of farm-to-table cooking with events and programs that honor, cultivate and preserve African-American culinary history through educational initiatives, awards, conferences and culinary scholarships. The foundation is based in Atlanta; Lewis lived her last years in Decatur, Ga. The $125 event takes place on March 3, starting at 6 p.m. with a cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception. Dinner begins at 7 p.m.
Lewis, who died on Feb. 13, 2006, was renowned as an award-winning chef and for her traditional Southern cuisine cookbooks, including “The Taste of Country Cooking,” which many regard as a classic.
“She’s been a huge influence to me,” said Paul Fehribach, Big Jones executive chef and co-owner. “I would say, probably of all of the chefs from the American tradition, particularly from the South, she’s easily the most influential cook in my career.”
Big Jones describes its style as Southern heirloom cooking and Fehribach will be releasing a cookbook, slated for release on May 1, named after the restaurant. While he said he mentions Lewis often in the book, Lewis doesn’t particularly influence its recipes. However, the aesthetics of Lewis’ cookbooks did have an impact: It’s narrative-driven, and instead of using photos like many experiential cookbooks, there are line drawings and etchings in Big Jones.
“‘The Taste of Country Cooking’ was published in ’76 and the “Edna Lewis Cookbook’ was published in 1972,” he said. “When you look at those books they still seem, I mean if someone wrote them today, they would still be fresh and new, and they’re almost timeless in a way because of their material.”
Fehribach will be joined by seven visiting chefs to create the event’s menu. Participating chefs include Joe Randall, founder and chair owner of The Edna Lewis Foundation, as well as founder of Chef Joe Randall Cooking School in Savannah, Ga.; Jennifer Hill Booker, owner of Your Resident Gourmet in Atlanta, Ga.; Timothy Dean, owner of Timothy Dean Burger Bar in Washington, D.C.; Dwight Evans, executive chef at Covenant Village of Northbrook; Brian Jupiter, corporate executive chef of Chicago’s Pioneer Tavern Group; Kristopher Murray, the executive director of Chicago’s Washburne Culinary Institute; and Clifford Rome, president of Rome’s Joy Catering Inc., in Chicago. Kelly Stepto-Royston, a mixologist from the currently-being-renovated Atwood Restaurant, will also participate.
“Everyone is going to do a recipe that reflects Edna Lewis’s influence on their cooking,” Fehribach said. “And they all have very different styles.”
Reservations can be made here.
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