Let there be light! Chefs cook for a cause

How do chefs find time to run their own kitchens? Last night, Brandon Biederman (of Steuben's), Jamey Fader (of Lola, shown at right) and fast fill-in Paula Lueske (Goose Sorenson was stuck at Solera) met in the big demonstration kitchen of Mise en Place, the cooking school in the Ice House that's Lueske's home base, for "Cook-Off for a Cause."

In this case, the cause was the Women's Lighthouse Project, which helps women manage their HIV disease -- an appropriate charity on December 1, World AIDS Day. But it seems like almost every night, you can find a Denver chef cooking up good food for a good cause.

After an hour of stirring performances using ingredients from Marczyk Fine Foods, the chefs presented an assortment of dishes for judging. The winner and still the chomp: Jamey Fader. While his s'mores were no match for Biederman's chocolate bread pudding, Fader's squash soup was amazing, given added depth by the toasted seeds.

If you want to sample Fader's cooking for yourself, we know he'll be back in the Lola kitchen, at 1575 Boulder Street, tomorrow night, since he'll be featuring Mexican comfort foods in the third installment of his Pull Up a Seat Dinner Series.

Sorry, but we can't guarantee that the squash soup will be on the menu. -- Patricia Calhoun