Meals on Wheels Atlanta (MOWA) is growing again and to celebrate MOWA is doing what it does best; they are serving dinner; mind you, it will be a dinner like no other that you have ever imagined. MOWA’s signature event, usually held at the St. Regis Hotel, was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 crisis and has been reinvasion as a two-part culinary delight SAVOR and TASTE.
Curated by MOWA Executive Chef Robert Gerstenecker and Chattahoochee Food Works Owner and Emmy and James Beard Award-winning chef Andrew Zimmern, SAVOR, is a traditional coursed gourmet dinner offered with wine pairings, live auction, and live entertainment. Joining them are three Atlanta’s most celebrated chefs including my friends Deborah VanTrece of Twisted Soul Cookhouse and Pours, Chef Matthew Basford of Canoe as well as acclaimed Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta Pastry Chef Charles Barrett.
Meals On Wheels Atlanta (MOWA) was founded in 1965 to support seniors struggling with poverty, food insecurity, and social isolation. In the last 55 years, MOWA has grown from a small soup kitchen to an organization serving more than 600,000 meals each year throughout the Atlanta area and is expecting to provide an additional 100,000 meals more this year.
The mission of Meals On Wheels Atlanta (MOWA) is to support senior independence through meals, shelter, education and community. For seniors facing food insecurity, they provide nutritious home-delivered meals, emergency shelf-stable food packages, and supplemental nutrition. For seniors struggling to maintain their homes, they provide critical repairs to ensure their homes are safe, warm, and dry. Throughout all they do, their vision is to ensure that no Atlanta area senior is hungry, cold, or forgotten.
MOWA is thrilled to announce their new project called “Our Kitchen”. Our Kitchen a community collaboration of designers, architects, builders, chefs, gardeners that are getting ready to build MOWA’s answer to ending senior hunger in the Atlanta community. MOWA and its dedicated team will convert more than 10,000 square feet of existing space into a new state-of-the-art commercial kitchen that will enable us to triple meal production. We’ll add a gourmet demo kitchen for cooking classes, an organic garden and a beautiful community event space expanding MOWA’s reach into the community and helping to establish a new vision for their future and the future of those who benefit from the organization.
There is a lot going on at MOWA beside delicious and nutritious meals being delivered all across Futon County. Meals On Wheels Atlanta offers a Pantry Program which serves as a critical stop-gap for seniors on our “can’t” waitlist who are waiting to receive home-delivered meals as well as congregate meals served hot to groups of twenty senior clients or more, usually located at community centers. MOWA even has its own Pet Pantry. It was started when local volunteers noticed seniors sharing their meals with their dogs or cats. Home repair services are also available through MOWA as they continue to work to ensure that Atlanta’s senior client’s homes are safe, warm, dry, and accessible!
Stay tuned for Part Two of this incredible fundraiser as “TASTE” is coming up in the New Year! On February 18th guests will enjoy unlimited curated “tastes” and themed beverages along with live music from over 25 food and beverage vendors in the 22,000 square foot hall at Chattahoochee Food Works Gallery. TASTE takes place from7:30pm to Midnight.
There are many ways to get involved; write a donation check, volunteer, or maybe order a personalized Chef’s experience to benefit the organization. Join me in helping this incredible organization. Check out the website www.mowalt.org.
A Meal to Remember 2021 Chefs
MATTHEW BASFORD
Shortly after taking his first restaurant job in his late teens, Matthew Basford knew that he was headed for a career in the restaurant business. Growing up in Australia, Matthew was exposed to cooking techniques that drew influence from Pan-Asian cuisine. He started his culinary journey at Pear Tree Cottage in Greenock, followed by Vintner’s Bar and Grill in Angaston.
Matthew was awarded second place in Tasting Australia for two consecutive competitions and placed in the Nestle Junior Chefs of Australia Competition, a yearly event that honors the top apprentices in the country.
After completing his four-year apprenticeship, Matthew was officially a ‘qualified chef,’ and travelled to the United States. In December 2002, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, and began working at Dominique’s, at the Maison Dupuy Hotel in the French Quarter. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, Matthew was relocated to Atlanta, Georgia.
Within a week, he found himself in the Canoe kitchen. He started as line cook, and worked his way up the ranks from sous chef to executive sous chef, to chef de cuisine, and finally in 2013, Matthew was named executive chef of Canoe. He continues the legacy of the city’s longstanding bastion of fine dining. His commitment to serving fresh, seasonal ingredients marries well with the rich tradition of Canoe. For more information, please visit www.canoeatl.com.
ANDREW ZIMMERN
Andrew Zimmern is an Emmy- and four-time James Beard Award-winning TV personality, chef, writer, teacher, and social justice advocate. In February 2020, Andrew returned to television with What’s Eating America, which premiered on MSNBC, and in 2021, will premiere Family Dinner on Chip & Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Network. Both shows were created by Intuitive Content, the full-service television and digital production company that Andrew heads as both founder and CEO. As the creator, Executive Producer and Host of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods franchise, Andrew Zimmern’s Driven by Food and Emmy Award-winning The Zimmern List, he has devoted his life to exploring and promoting cultural acceptance, tolerance and understanding through food. Andrew is also the founder and CEO of Passport Hospitality, a restaurant and food service development company. He is passionate about his philanthropic endeavors and sits on the board of directors of Services for the UnderServed, Project Explorer/EXPLR, and Soigne Hospitality. Andrew serves on City Harvest’s Food Council and is the International Rescue Committee’s Voice for Nutrition. Andrew is a founding member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, fighting to save restaurants affected by Covid-19. He resides in Minneapolis.
DEBORAH VANTRECE
Chef Deborah VanTrece is one of Atlanta’s hottest chef personalities, creative director and owner of Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours and The Catering Company by VanTrece and co-owner of Serenidad and Oreatha’s at The Point, the latter two scheduled to open in spring 2022. In March 2021, Deborah also added published author to her list of accolades with the release of The Twisted Soul Cookbook: Modern Soul with Global Flavors (Rizzoli).
Deborah has been featured on the TODAY Show, The Rachel Ray Show, The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, NPR, Food Network, Conde Nast Traveler, American Way, HuffPost, and Buzzfeed, among others. She is a sought-after chef for top food brands and has partnered with top brands such as Lexus, Ben & Jerry’s, Sabra, Belvedere Vodka, Big Green Egg®, and others.
Deborah’s travels have had a profound influence on her culinary style, which she describes as modern globally inspired soul food. Her style of cuisine features creative, modern interpretations and global influences on traditional southern soul food.
As a female African American restaurateur, business owner, and member of the LGBTQ+ community, Deborah is also a passionate and vocal advocate for social justice and issues close to her heart. She supports education and action to encourage healthier eating habits among low-income households. She also wants to shine a light on food insecurity and other issues that impact vulnerable populations.
ROBERT GERSTENECKER
A native of Ontario, Canada, Robert Gerstenecker grew up on a working farm and gained an appreciation for food through spending time with his mother in her kitchen and garden.
Robert knew he wanted to become a chef the moment he walked into the kitchen of a cooking school. “From that moment on, I’ve never questioned my career,” he says.
He joined Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts in 1989 and worked his way from part-time carver to executive chef during moves to properties in Toronto, Hong Kong, New York and Palm Beach.
After 28 years in the industry, Robert still loves the challenge of providing guests with an incredible food experience. “Food is ever evolving—you can never be perfect at it,” he says, “but that doesn’t stop me from trying every day.”
Since leaving the corporate world in 2016, Robert has taught at Kennesaw State University as a culinary chef instructor and consulted for various food and beverage operations. He joined Meals On Wheels Atlanta as the chief culinary consultant in 2018 and now serves as the chief operating officer.
CHRISTOPHER KELLY
Christopher Kelly trained at Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Atlanta, Georgia, and began his culinary career at the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta, where he worked his way up from line cook to sous chef. In the midst of his long tenure at the Four Seasons Atlanta, Christopher briefly relocated to work as the chef de partie at the Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco, but he ultimately returned to the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta as the executive banquet chef. Christopher joined Meals On Wheels Atlanta as executive sous chef in 2020 and was promoted to executive chef in 2021.
CHARLES BARRETT
Pastry chef Charles Barrett is the owner and head chef of Barrett’s Baked Goods, a custom cake shop in Buford, Georgia, that specializes in interactive children’s parties, imaginative, hands-on dessert bars, and corporate gifts and events. Charles gained his professional training through a culinary apprenticeship with the American Culinary Federation while working at the Atlanta Athletic Club.
Although his early experience was not pastry-related, his love of the “sweet stuff” was cemented after an opportunity to train under Abby Ryland, a former US Pastry Team member. From there, he joined the culinary team at the Cobb Galleria, one of the nation’s leading convention centers, and was instrumental in directing the scratch-bake operation. Charles has since served as executive pastry chef at Legendary Events and at the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta.
With over a decade of experience designing custom tables and wedding cakes to wow audiences, Charles is passionate about bringing his love of sweets to the North Metro and North Georgia area.
A Meal to Remember 2021 Sommelier
NANCY WALDECK
Nancy Waldeck is an innovative and engaging wine and culinary professional who provides a skillful and fun mix of educational experiences all over the world. She holds the Advanced Certification from London’s Wine and Spirits Education Trust and has presented at US Embassies in Russia, Morocco, and Burundi. Nancy is a wine educator at Emory and Georgia Tech, and has numerous corporate clients – including Google and Workday.
Learn more at her company website: tasteandsavor.com.
