Inaugural Food Tasting Event Featuring the Region’s Finest Chefs coming March 2025

Dec. 2024 — A premier food-tasting experience featuring an array of delicious entrees, desserts, fine wines and spirits is coming to Hampton Roads Norfolk in the new year.  The inaugural “Chef Fest – A Taste of Joy,” will be held on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, at downtown Norfolk’s prestigious Town Point Club.

Eddie Lee, executive chef at Norfolk’s renowned Town Point Club, will host a select group of Hampton Roads’ top restaurant chefs who will create mouth-watering dishes for ticketholders to enjoy while helping to raise money for a worthy cause.

Chef Fest event proceeds benefit Easterseals PORTHealth’s Culinary Connections program- an innovative culinary arts & wellness program with a teaching kitchen in the heart of Hampton Roads, serving individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD), mental health challenges, substance use disorders, foster care and military connected groups.

Guests will sample from a delicious lineup of signature culinary creations from the area’s most prominent restaurants and cast their votes for “Chef Fest Champ,” while enjoying locally brewed craft beers, Virginia wines and signature cocktails, grooving along to musical entertainment, out-bidding other attendees at the silent auction and socializing with other Hampton Roads foodies.

The event is open to the public aged 21 and above; advance ticket purchase is required.

While some may be familiar with the Easterseals name, others may not know that for nearly 100 years the charity has been an indispensable resource for people and families challenged by disability.  As part of an effort to reintroduce itself in Southeastern Virginia, Easterseals PORTHealth has replicated one of its more successful programs from its North Carolina affiliate.

“Our Culinary Connections program teaches individuals with different developmental abilities culinary skills, nutritional literacy and overall wellness interventions that extend beyond the classroom, leading to greater independence and quality of life,” said Leslie Lawrence, Culinary Director & Ability Outreach Specialist.

Lawrence directs the program’s flagship kitchen in Virginia Beach, located at 3509 Virginia Beach Blvd., Suite 102, Virginia Beach, Va., near the Little Neck area, and the mobile instructional programming held at other locations inside the community.

WHAT:                The inaugural Chef Fest

WHEN:               Wednesday, March 12, 2025

TIME:                  6:30 p.m.

PLACE:               Town Point Club (3^rd Floor, World Trade Center, Downtown Norfolk)

TICKETS:           $150/per person (sponsorships are available).

CONTACT:       Marta Quintana (919) 418-4275 or marta.quintana@eastersealsucp.com for more information

Social Media –

Tickets: https://tinyurl.com/ChefFEST2025

Information: Instagram @ChefFestESPH

https://www.instagram.com/esph_chef_fest/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ESPHCulinaryConnections

Follow: @ChefFestESPH

About Culinary Connections

Financial support from our event sponsors, ticket sales, and silent auction directly funds Easterseals PORT Health’s “Culinary Connections” program in Hampton Roads. Culinary Connections provides individuals with disabilities and mental health challenges with the opportunity to learn culinary skills, techniques, nutritional literacy, communication, and coping skills in a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen in Hampton Roads.