Updated: Sit Down and Eat to Stand Up for Change

Eating is a political act. Always has been. You state your intent and your beliefs and you declare your tribe every day. No one single meal defines you, but they all aggregate. Rarely does an opportunity come along to plant the flag boldly with just one dinner.

But sometimes they do. A couple days ago, we announced Le Virtu’s Sanctuary Supper. And now there’s this.

On March 2nd, Scott Schroeder and Pat O’Malley are hosting an ACLU benefit dinner at The Hungry Pigeon. There are three cool things about this, one food-related, and two that are very much political.

Thing one: This one dinner will bring together a dozen of the best chefs in the city, all cooking together for a common cause. In the kitchen will be Ben Puchowitz from Cheu and Bing Bing, Schroeder and O’Malley, Christina Martinez from South Philly Barbacoa, Angela Ranalli-Cicala from Le Virtu, Angelina Branca from Sate Kampar, George Sabatino from Aldine, the whole team from Pelago, Lauren Hooks, pastry chef Monica Glass and more. So if you’ve ever wondered what would happen if, say, you turned Ben Puchowitz and George Sabatino loose together in the same kitchen, now you can find out.

Thing two: Tickets will run you $100 a head (which includes food and drinks), but all proceeds are being donated to the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU has been having a good run lately. During the battles over Trump’s Muslim ban a couple weekends ago they raised close to $24 million dollars in donations. In a normal year, they raise about $4 million. Total. And this is awesome because more money means more lawyers and more lawyers means more people fighting on the side of those abused, oppressed or unfairly treated.

Thing three: Reggie Shuford, Executive Director of the ACLU’s Pennsylvania chapter, will be there to speak. So if you’re wondering what the ACLU plans on doing with all the money it’s been raising from citizens outraged by the conduct of the new president, he’s probably a very good guy to ask.

The March 2nd dinner will have two seatings, at 6pm and 8:30pm. Shuford will be speaking at both. So if you’re looking at putting a little bit of your hard-earned cash into this fight, this is an excellent opportunity.

And I can’t wait to see what kind of menu this team comes up with. You can get your tickets at the link below.

UPDATE: Tickets for both seatings are now sold out. Which is bad news for you if you didn’t get a seat, but good news for the ACLU. 

Sit Down And Eat To Stand Up For Change [Get your tickets here]