Two Chicago culinary husband-and-wife teams are coming together next month to collaborate for an important cause.
On May 2, Chefs Doug Psaltis and Hsing Chen of contemporary Greek restaurant Andros Taverna and Chefs Tim Flores and Genie Kwon of Michelin-starred Filipino fine-dining favorite Kasama have teamed up for an “extravagant” special menu, as Andros Taverna plays host for Pausing for the Cause, a fundraiser supporting suicide prevention activities at Vibrant Emotional Health.
Pausing for the Cause organizer Rebecca Friedlander says the event was born out of conversations following the death by suicide of legendary chef and author Anthony Bourdain in 2018. Friedlander says Bourdain’s death profoundly impacted the food and wine industry and brought the significant need to address mental health in the industry to the forefront.
“When Anthony Bourdain passed, that's when it became pretty real for everybody,” says Tim Flores, chef and co-owner of Kasama.
The first Pausing for the Cause event was held in September 2018 at S.K.Y. in Pilsen, with chefs from S.K.Y. and Oriole. The event was a success, and others followed—a fall 2021 dinner, the first following a pandemic-induced hiatus, raised $50,000 for Vibrant Emotional Health. The May dinner will coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month.
Friedlander says a community has formed from this annual event, including guests who have shared stories as well as past guests who have offered to sponsor bottles of wine from abroad. “What has really touched me in this is the relationship between repeat guests, people who share these very personal and intimate and hard to share details,” Friedlander says. “I would never have connected with these people if not for this.”
Vibrant Emotional Health, the beneficiary of Pausing for the Cause, is a nonprofit that reaches more than four million people annually through educational and advocacy work as well as crisis and emotional support services—most notably the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which is available via call, text or chat 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, Vibrant’s #BeThe1To initiative offers resources and guidance for peer support to help people support loved ones experiencing suicidal ideation.
We can use this opportunity and do something good, and work towards a cause that is so relevant to our everyday lives.
For the participating chefs, the issue of mental health in the hospitality industry hits close to home, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the past, working in restaurants for 15 years or so, you weren't encouraged to talk about mental health or what you were going through,” Chen says. “It was seen as a sign of weakness. It's important to me personally to break that stigma in the restaurant industry.”
Chen says she and Psaltis aim to create a safe, affirming community at Andros where the team can feel comfortable expressing if something isn’t right or they need to take the day off, without fear of losing their jobs. “It's important that people feel safe because people have lives outside of work before they come in through those doors,” she says.
“We're in the position that people are going out to dinner for entertainment now and they're looking at chefs as sort of celebrities and they're watching what we're doing,” Flores says. “We can use this opportunity and do something good, and work towards a cause that is so relevant to our everyday lives.”
For all chefs involved in this year's Pausing for the Cause, collaborating on the menu for the event is an organic extension of their existing friendship and conversations about food. “Kasama is our brunch spot when we're not working, and Andros is Genie and Tim’s late-night spot,” Chen says. “When we see each other, we talk about food and running our small businesses, the types of food we're excited about, and things we may not be cooking on our menu.”
The jam-packed menu at Pausing for the Cause gives space for each of the chefs’ culinary perspectives to shine while complementing one another. Flores says Kasama’s Filipino-inspired food is simple, delicious and goes with the Greek-American flavors Psaltis centers at Andros. Grilled meats are a highlight—Psaltis is making a shawarma with Green Circle chicken, while Flores is highlighting their signature longanisa, a sweet chorizo-like sausage served with green papaya. “That's where it works with Doug's food,” Flores says. “He focuses on singular ingredients and just lets that protein shine.”
The collaboration occasionally goes beyond just the four chefs—one of Andros Taverna’s managers, Dave, is Filipino, and his mom makes lumpia for him to take to the Andros team as a snack. Chen says they asked Dave if his mom would be interested in making lamb lumpia, and lo and behold, Dave’s mom’s lumpia will be on the menu at the event.
Other menu highlights include a Mediterranean octopus with skordalia, grilled turbot, poached shrimp with cabbage cooked in beef fat and seaweed, and of course, dessert, featuring the classic Filipino dessert halo-halo with a honeydew granita and leche flan, and a crispy kataifi cheese pie with frozen yogurt and pistachio. Chen and Kwon will also be making takeaway “bakery boxes” for the morning after for preorder.
In addition to an enticing menu and an important cause, Chen says the camaraderie of the all-volunteer team coming together to cook great food, serve great wine and have a good time together is one of the most exciting aspects of the event.
“This industry can be a very lonely place, especially after the last few years,” Kwon says. “I'm excited to just be able to get together again. We have so much talent coming to make sure that this is a success. Everybody has their own story, and we’re excited to be using our experience to do something good.”
“If we can staff a call center with one more person, and then someone who calls waits 10 seconds less, that can make the difference,” Friedlander says.
Pausing for the Cause tickets cost $350 and are available now via Tock. If you can’t make it to the event but still want to support Vibrant Emotional Health, you can do so via the organization's website, and you can can learn more about the #BeThe1To initiative here.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, you are not alone and support is available. Call 1-800-273-8255 or visit Lifeline Chat to speak with a counselor 24/7.