Sunday's hot food ticket: Chefs Up Front

Lori Midson

Matt Selby at the 2009 Taste of the Nation event in Denver

More than twenty of Denver's star chefs will converge on the Colorado Convention Center this Sunday, March 21, for Chefs Up Front, a culinary bash to benefit Operation Frontline Colorado, a local nonprofit that fights hunger and malnutrition through food education.

"This is such a fantastic event, because all of our local top chefs come together, have fun with the crowd, create their own, unique menus and rally around a great cause," says Carrie Packard, development director of Operation Frontline Colorado. The lineup of chefs rallying this year includes Sheila Lucero (Jax Fish House-Denver), Paul Reilly (Encore), Michael Long (Opus), Scott Parker (Table 6), James Rugile (Venue), Tyler Wiard (Elway's Cherry Creek), Matt Mine (Oceanaire) and Matt Selby and Wade Kirwan (Vesta Dipping Grill),

"All of the money stays in Denver, and this event helps us fund more than a dozen six-week Operation Frontline courses, which gives low-income families the confidence, knowledge and skills to make good food decisions," explains Packard.

The event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception, followed by a silent auction and a multi-course menu paired with wines. New this year, Packard says, is a limited-edition commemorative cookbook that includes recipes from all the participating chefs. Only 75 of the $50 cookbooks are available; if you want yours John Hancocked by the kitchen wizards, it's another $25. You can also bid cooking school packages, a Culinary Connectors tour, restaurant gift certificates or a series of grilling classes.

Tickets to the event, which is almost sold out, are $300 and can be purchased by calling 303-892-8480 or visiting www. strength.org/operation_frontline/colorado/.

For information on dozens of culinary events around town, visit our online Food & Drink listings.