WGBH radio mid-day host Henry Santoro interviewed chef Carl Dooley of The Table at Season to Taste Restaurant, about an upcoming event on gun safety. The following interview has been slightly edited for clarity.
Boston chefs are no strangers to stepping up to the plate, pun intended, when it comes to charitable events. And this Monday night is no exception. That's when six of this areas Chefs will come together at Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester to help raise money for gun safety. The host restaurant for the event is The Table at Season to Taste in North Cambridge, where chefs Carl Dooley and Mary Edinger work their culinary magic. It's a pleasure to have Carl Dooley in our WGBH studios welcome.
Carl Dooley: Thank you so much. Excited to be here.
Henry Santoro: Yeah, excited to have you in. This is the first time ever that Boston has a Chefs for Gun Safety event. What led you to this point?
Carl Dooley: So, after the Parkland shooting all of us at The Table felt sad and hopeless and wanted to find a way to help. So, we donated all the profits from that evening’s service to Mom’s Demand Action and Every Town for Gun Safety. And after that we loved the idea of hosting another event to benefit the cause and really do something that wasn't reactionary in the wake of another tragedy. I wanted to sort of shift the conversation from mourning to proactive positive conversation around a great meal.
Henry Santoro: I'm sure you had no difficulty lining up chefs to join you in this event. Did you get on board?
Carl Dooley: So, I think one of the great things about the culinary chef community here in Boston is how much charity, social outreach and benefit dinners that we all participate in. So, immediately I went to my best friends that are chefs Lydia from Sycamore Restaurant in Newton, Alex from BISq in Inman Square, Dave from The Bar Restaurant, all were just crazy enthusiastic about helping the cause and really doing a dinner that would both celebrate sort of the end of summer, and benefit something that we all believe in.
Henry Santoro: And the food bounty is there right now.
Carl Dooley: Absolutely. You know this is the third year that we've hosted a dinner in September at a farm. It's the best time to eat in New England. It's obviously a transition period, but we wanted to create a positive atmosphere to celebrate the produce, but also to engage in a conversation about something important. And I think that this dinner will be able to do both.
Henry Santoro: Five courses with wine pairings. Can you tease us with the menu?
Carl Dooley: Absolutely. So, we're going to show off a lot of fantastic local produce, some local fish. Dave's doing a great blue fin tuna dish, with like a Sicilian inspired dish and using local vegetables. Lydia from Sycamore is going to do a great grilled monkfish dish, with you know lots of end of the season tomatoes and peppers, and then from The Table, we’re going to do like a mixed grill, with lots of bold Mexican flavors. Lamb ribs and some green chili lamb ribs, with poblano pepper, and lots of different sources and really try to celebrate, sort of, the best of September.
Henry Santoro: It's amazing Carl that you put this together. It's sad that it's so necessary to have to put something like this together. But, you've also got some speakers coming in that will meet and greet and talk to the guests. Can you tell us who they are?
Carl Dooley: So, we have some speakers coming from Moms Demand Action, who you know, I think it's about creating a conversation at the table and having the speakers present is going to be powerful but, hopefully also really inspiring to take action and inspire everyone to get involved.
Henry Santoro: And if you don't see chef Carl Dooley at this event you can find him in the kitchen at The Table at Season to Taste. Chef thanks so much for coming in.
Carl Dooley: My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.
