Chef Keith Luce Gives Back To Help Undernourished Children

Award-winning North Fork chef Keith Luce, who has prepared meals at the White House, believes in giving back to help fight childhood hunger in communities across the country.

Luce, who most recently opened Main and other eateries at the Square in Greenport, participated in a charity dinner to benefit No Kid Hungry: Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger and providing nutritious food to underprivileged kids.
 
The dinner was hosted by Gracie's Restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island and sponsored by Share Our Strength and Johnson and Wales University.

Participating chefs included Matt Gennuso, Evan Mallett, Matthew Varga and Melissa Denmark.

Chef Luce's dish was a tasting of bay scallops, including Kombu cured scallop crudo with sea urchin, grapefruit and soy-chili meringue; brown butter, scallop and matsutake chawan mushi with chestnut cracklings; autumn pickles and sea lettuce; and scallop and duck bacon skewers, honey-miso teriyaki and shishito tempura.

The event garnered close to $20,000 dollars was raised for Share Our Strength, an organization for which Chef Luce has volunteered since his days at The Clinton White House.

Luce said the cause is near to his heart. "I have seen firsthand what it means to be truly underprivileged. I have been places all over the world as well as in the United States that are so poverty stricken that healthy and nutritious food isn't an option. With the amount of waste and wealth in this world, and the money that is spent on less important issues, I felt I could help by contributing the only thing I truly have — my knowledge and skill as a chef — to do my part to help."

Luce added that he believes most health issues and allergies come from unwholesome and processed foods that lack nutritional value. "When a family is faced with only being able to nourish their family with that type of product because of financial challenges .. . it benefits the pharmaceutical companies and costs us as citizens, countless dollars."

The organization, Share Our Strength, "sees to it that help goes where it is truly deserved and needed," Luce said. "No child should be deprived of proper nutrition. Our system isn't set up to deliver proper nutrition to the people that most need it. In the end, there is a cost to all of us. Personally, I want to see children have the chance to lead a good and productive life. This is a something I've found, to help make a small contribution."