Four Pies in a Year from First Slice Pie Cafe


Item Number: 304

Time Left: CLOSED

Value: $100

Online Close: Mar 7, 2014 10:59 PM CST

Bid History: 12 bids - Item Sold!



Description

Wowza. Pie!!! The lucky winner of this items gets FOUR pies in one year (can only be redeemed once every three months). Will you get creams pies? Will you get fruit pies? Will you do two of each? Its going to be hard to decide between these yummy pies...



  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

  • Chocolate Mint Pie

  • French Silk Pie

  • Polka Dot Pie

  • Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

  • Chocolate Cream Pie

  • Traditional Apple Pie

  • Michigan Sour Cherry Pie

  • Occupie Pie


ABOUT: From an a Feature Article in the Chicago Tribune:  

Sometimes you need to feed the soul. And sometimes feeding others salads of local greens and fresh tomatoes, maybe spinach-squash lasagna and chocolate-peanut butter pie does just that, especially for the cook. Just ask chef Mary Ellen Diaz whose desire to give back led her to create First Slice, a self-funded charity to feed the needy and homeless, more than a decade ago.


Diaz, who grew up in Virginia with mom, dad, four sisters and a brother, had trained in France (including at l’Ecole des Arts Culinaires in Lyon) and worked at multistarred restaurants (North Pond, Printer’s Row), and with Richard Melman at Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises.


She was on a leave of absence from Lettuce (after she and her partner adopted their second child) when she began volunteering at soup kitchens, stirring her culinary experience into the meals. “It only took one night of making meals amazing for people in need and seeing the smiles that made me realize I could do something here,” Diaz said.


How would she fund her dream? The stay-at-home mom knew she struggled to get family meals on the table. There had to be others. She took skills learned at Lettuce, seasoned it with research from her North Pond days and topped it with this: In the restaurants where she’d worked, “the first slice of pie was always served to our staff. … So this symbol of pie as community was important as was the first slice being the most important.”


First Slice today funds its efforts with a “shareholders program,” with some 100 subscriber families receiving home-cooked, restaurant-quality meals weekly. Funds from those subscriptions are used to make the same quality meals for people in need. Community volunteers, working with First Slice staff, serve often 300-plus needy and homeless each week through several social service organizations, such as Streetwise. And there are three cafes (North Ravenswood inside the Lillstreet Art Center, North Ashland Avenue, and Manor Street).


In the past several years, a small job training program has been added. “It’s not 12 people sitting around a table learning to saute a chicken breast. It’s a few people sauteeing hundreds of chicken breasts,” says Diaz. “We’ve always thought about our food as being a magnet for our services. If people know that there’s a great meal waiting for them at an organization, they are much more likely to come and get the services needed.”


And while there are donations, it’s not the major focus: “We all feel much more driven if our mission is based on us sort of rolling up our sleeves and cooking for every dollar,” she says, whether its for the subscription program or the cafes. “We find a lot of joy in that and that’s why we’re sort of a different organization. You can come in and have good food, and other people can have good food too.”


Special Instructions

Only one pie every three months


Redeemable only at the Pie Cafe


Cannot be used towards the To Your Table Subscriber Program


IMPORTANT MESSAGE:


THIS ITEM MUST BE PICKED-UP OR SHIPPED (please read below)


It is preferable that all winning bidders whom reside in the vicinity of the theatre, pick up their auction item at Raven – 6157 North Clark Street, Chicago 60660on SATURDAY MARCH 8, 2014 from 9:30AM to 2:00PM – so as not to incur shipping expenses. Please bring your ID as it will be required.


If a winning bidder is unable to pick up their merchandise, Raven will work with that individual to arrange delivery, which however may result in a shipping charge no matter the size of the item which will be the responsibility of the winning bidder. It should be noted that the majority of items in the online auction are gift cards and therefore, shipping charges will be minimal. Raven will work with winning bidders to ensure that this process is as seamless as possible. 


Any questions, please email Jackie@raventheatre.com

Donated by

First Slice Pie Cafe