Tom Colicchio, Alex Guarnaschelli, And Josh Capon Among 2016 Chefs Dinner Participants

On Sunday, July 31st, the Hayground School will host their 12th Annual Chefs Dinner honoring Toni Ross (Nick & Toni’s Restaurant, Founding Parent Hayground School) and Chef Claudia Fleming (North Fork Table & Inn). The dinner will benefit the school and celebrate its 20th anniversary. Hors d’oeuvres will begin at 5 p.m. with dinner to follow at 6 p.m. The event will be held at Jeff’s Kitchen at the Hayground School and attendance is limited to 200 dinner seats.

The evening’s Celebrated Chefs include: Josh Capon (Lure Fishbar, Bowery Meat Co.), Tom Colicchio (Crafted Hospitality), Elizabeth Falkner (Chef/ Author/ Artist), Alex Guarnaschelli (Butter), Abigail Hitchcock (Camaje Bistro), Marc Meyer (Cookshop, Hundred Acres, Rosie’s), Christian Mir (Stone Creek Inn), Joe Realmuto (Nick & Toni’s), Jason Weiner (Almond, L&W Oyster Co.) Sommelier Julie Berger (Nick & Toni’s) and Fromager Michael Cavaniola (Cavaniola’s Gourmet) will also be highlighted. A live auction featuring auctioneer Charles Antin of Lot 1 Auctioneers will take place.

Hayground is a diverse, mixed aged school in Bridgehampton, NY founded in 1996 for children ages 3 to 14, on the conviction that all children can and should live a life of the mind, that social and environmental responsibility are fundamental educational initiatives, that art be at the center rather than the periphery of life, and that food, the cultivation and preparation of it, is one of the best educational tools at our disposal. To this end, 80 percent of students receive financial aid. Each day the children prepare lunch for the whole school, they sow and harvest in the garden and greenhouses and use the kitchen as a gateway to many basic classroom concepts.

Toni Ross and Chef Josh Capon at last year’s event. (Photo: Lisa Tamburini)

Jeff’s Kitchen was named for Jeff Salaway, one of the founders of the Hayground School. Thanks to the first Chefs Dinner, organized in 2003 by event founder Lizz Salaway, Jeff’s sister, several of his culinary celebrity friends and many volunteers, more than $300,000 was raised to make the freestanding building on the sprawling Hayground campus a reality.

Tickets to the 12th Annual Chefs Dinner are $1,200.

Hayground School is located at 151 Mitchell Lane in Bridgehampton. For more information, visit www.haygroundchefsdinner.org.