The Best Food in Town at the Chefs’ Showcase Fundraiser

Area chefs and local gourmands gather at the Fort Harrison in Clearwater for the 7th Annual Chefs’ Showcase fundraiser benefiting the Children's Home Network of Tampa Bay and the Clearwater Community Volunteers.

Chefs’ Showcase is an annual tradition, held at the Fort Harrison in Clearwater and cosponsored by Tampa Bay Magazine and the Church of Scientology. It brings together the region’s finest chefs, who create an unforgettable dining experience. The multicourse, plate-service meal with wine pairings and live entertainment raised more than $30,000 for at-risk youth and their families.

Those participating were Fort Harrison’s chef Kevin Meier, 2017 U.S. Best Young Chef; Chef Bobby Shirley, Clearsky on Cleveland; chef Rene Marquis, President of the Tampa Bay Chapter of American Culinary Federation; chef Vanessa Marquis of Core Catering; Chef Patrick Artz, Hillsborough County Culinary Instructor; and chef Bill Brown of William Dean Chocolates. Their work was coordinated by chef Zoltan Vajna, Executive Chef of the Church of Scientology in Clearwater.

The chef responsible for each course was introduced to the guests and provided a behind-the-scenes view of what they were about to experience, and the Fort Harrison in-house sommelier described the wine pairing.

This year’s Chefs’ Showcase raised funds for the Clearwater Community Volunteers (CCV) and Children’s Home Network. Among the many programs organized by the CCV are the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Coachman Park and downtown Clearwater’s Winter Wonderland. The group’s activities raise funds for underserved children in the greater Tampa Bay Area. Children’s Home Network provides a broad array of services including care for teen mothers, Kids’ Village, a residential program for children ages 6-17, an intervention program to ensure children are ready for kindergarten and a program supporting fostering families and their children.

“Children whose lives start out with challenges need help to create a happy ending,” said Lisa Mansell, Community Affairs Director of the Church of Scientology in Clearwater. The selection of these children’s programs was inspired by the words of Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, who wrote, “When children become unimportant to a society, that society has forfeited its future.”