Band of Chefs

I think we all deserve a round of applause…

I can’t begin to thank you all enough for the support and assistance that we received for my mom.  As I sit here at the same table in the restaurant where I sent that first email to you asking for help, I can’t help but smile thinking about how amazing these past few weeks have been.  Don’t get me wrong, since that first email went out until the evening of the event, we had to hustle, hurdle obstacles and make important sacrifices.  But by doing so, we rallied the entire city behind a cause that had a face and a name.  The Boston restaurant scene came together in epic fashion in a way that can only be compared to that of the bond between soldiers, firefighters and other service professionals that exist in life with careless abandonment for their own personal safety.  Well, maybe not that extreme, but you get my point.  As we finished the service of the “Mother’s Day in March” event, and we concluded the auction, I became very emotional looking out into the crowd of guests, volunteers and chefs that were all there to support one of their own.  I am humbled by the selflessness of all of you and the support that you showed.  Whether it was your willingness to lend a hand, cook a course or just be there for me when I needed someone to have a drink with to decompress, you were all there for me, and for that I am forever grateful.  Boston is my home and I am so thankful to call all of you my family.

So, enough about me and my sappy love for all of you, lets talk about the real benefactor here…my mom. Not a day has passed since the event last week where my mom hasn’t sent me an email or a text (3 texts long) to say how blown away and inspired she is by all the support we were able to muster for her.  With your help and donations we raised just about $35,000 to go to the rebuilding of the greenhouses.  The amount we raised will be just enough to allow here to remove the old houses, build temporary ones, buy product, hire staff, and get up and running for the spring season.  She has offered to pay all of you back in plants and hugs…an offer that I hope you will all take her up on.

Many of you donated what you could.  Be that time, money or services, the idea that someone was in need and you could help made you all heros in my eyes.  I have personally thanked as many people as possible, but I would also like to publicly thank the BCAE for making this possible.  If we had not been able to use their facility, staff and resources, we might have been having dinner in a parking lot somewhere.  I would also like to thank all of the chefs that donated their time, product and hands to make the food happen.  We showed this town the caliber of people that we are and what we can do when we unite.  Big win, big win.  I would also like to thank all of the companies and people that donated the rentals, beverages and auction items.  Like building a house with no materials, the night would not have been built without your donations. Thank you.  

Lastly, I would like to thank my closest friends and family for giving me the emotional support to pull off such a crazy and ambitious event in such a short time.  There wasn’t a day that went by where one of you did’t check in on me and offer your help, time and humor to keep me smiling.  I can never thank all of you enough, lots of love.

In closing I just want you all to take away from this the type of feeling that only an extraordinary story like this could spawn.  Whenever you think that all is lost and everything is worth giving up on…think of this.  Think of what we all accomplished together when we were there to support one of our own.  Think of hundreds of people coming together to help someone many of them had never met.  Think about if that was you.  Then remember this and continue to help others.  We paid it forward and received it back 10 fold.  That’s pretty amazing.

Thank you all again so much,

Will Gilson

Featured chefs: 
Louis DiBiccari (Sel de la Terre) 
Jamie Bissonnette (Toro/Coppa)
Dante de Magistris (Dante/Il Casale) 
Matt Jennings (Farmstead/La Laiterie)
Colin Lynch (Menton)
Suzi Maitland (Trina’s Starlight Lounge)
Ed Doyle (Real Food Consulting)
Jay Silva (Bambara)
Andy Husbands (Tremont 647)
Mary Dumond (Harvest)
Will Gilson (Garden at the Cellar/Eat)

Desserts by Joanne Chang (Flour/Myers + Chang)

Hello all,
I can’t begin to tell you all how amazing it has been over the past week for my mother and I.  The incredible and overwhelming support from this city and the Boston restaurant industry has brought me to tears on more than a few occasions.  From within moments of sending that email last week, the responses, donations and willingness to help and volunteer came flowing into my inbox.  I guess because so many of you are such caring, generous people, I wasn’t shocked, but what did touch me was the fact that almost none of you have ever met Jodie Gilson.  But believe you this, you all will, and she has a  big hug for all of you.  I visited her farm, or whats left of it this past monday, and the pictures on the web do no justice.  But just like the stubborn Yankee that she is, she’s determined to rebuild and regain her momentum.  The support from all of us has helped give her the strength to keep going.  So, with my sincerest gratitude, I thank you more than you could ever know.
Now comes the hard part for me…creating the event that allows all of you who have offered your time and services the appropriate venue to help raise the money.  Many of you know that I have created this side project of pop up dinners around town, and it seems like the perfect format and stage to create the event for the fundraising nut.  The Boston Center for Adult Education (BCAE) has graciously extended the use of their facility to us to host the dinner.  The newly opened space will give us 2 kitchens and about 200 people worth of dining space.  This will be a big and challenging dinner, but with proper planning and promotion, we can pull it off and show people an amazing time for a fantastic cause.  The BCAE has made the space available to us on saturday march 5th.  Myself, Aaron Cohen and Louie DiBiccari will be creating the structure and format for the evening, but we surely wont be able to do it alone.  We need volunteers, product donations, service staff, cooks, bartenders, farm animals (well maybe just the costumes) and items to auction off.  Louie and I joked one night that we needed to use a “Field of Dreams” reference to describe this dinner.”Lets plow down the cornfield, build a baseball diamond and see what legends come out to play with us.”  Corny I know, but that’s what we are asking.  We will provide the ball-park for one night, and we would love it if you would come play with us.  We have fun doing what we do, and most of the time we are separated by our 4x8 tables at tasting events.  This time lets rub shoulders, play creepy touch and cook our asses off together.  Lets have a blast and let me show each one of you the feeling that I have had this past week when our entire city rallies around a person in need.  
Please know this though.  If you cannot make it, helping or attending, please do not feel bad.  All of you have been so supportive, and by even just telling others about this we will sell it out and raise the money.  Its a saturday I know, and that is a tough day for our industry, but realistically it will be much easier to sell tickets to.  
If you have offered an item to be auctioned off, thank you, and you will be hearing from somebody soon to arrange for confirmation of that item.  If you have offered to volunteer, and cannot make the date, please stay in touch with me or the blog whose name is very appropriate to this group of supporters (Band of Chefs) at http://willgilson.tumblr.com.  There you can stay up to date with our progress of rebuilding and also find out when we are going to do an old-fashioned barn (er, greenhouse) raising out on the farm.  If you have a strong back we will certainly need you on that day.
Again, a big strong thank you to everyone who has been there for me and my mother this past week.  Lets finish strong, and I hope to see you on the 5th of March.
Much love,
Will

I’m new to this whole blog thing, but I want my first post to be the most important and most urgent thing that I could post.

Dear Friends,

Please apologize for the large, mass email here, but I need to contact as many people as possible quickly. As some of you may or may not know, this past thursday evening my mother, Jodie Gilson, lost all of her greenhouses under the weight of the snow that has fallen over the past month or so.  Many of us have been harshly affected by the recent storms, however my complaints of little parking and sore shoveling muscles are entirely petty compared to the pain, loss and devastation that my mom is dealing with.  To add insult to injury, her insurance will not cover the damages because of the type of structure and the lack of consistent heating necessary to justify continuous use of the space.  This business and those greenhouses were here only source of income and the heart of her business.  Anyone who knows local agriculture and especially the potted plant sector knows that the window for success in that biz is selling all you can right around mothers day weekend.  Being prepared, able and strong during that time defines whether you hit or miss. The timing of this could not be more terrible…and that is why I am asking for your help now.

Many of you probably don’t know my mom, but you all know me.  You know my commitment to my family (given and chosen alike), my friends and my community.  As I sit here in look at the calendar and lose count of all the charitable events that I and my restaurant will be a part of in the next year, I can’t help but think that I would trade all of those and everything that I do for people I have never met, just to be able to help my mom get her life put back together.  Many of you copied on this email are the organizers of many of these charities.  As a chef, I donate my time, my staffs time, and product from my restaurant to help make these events beneficial for our causes.  I do not in any way want to take anything away from the beneficiaries of your work, and without you and the rest of my crazy chef community, many people would go hungry and non-profits would lose momentum and purpose.  To all of you I tip my hat and can only hope that in my family’s current position I can approach this challenge with the same courage that you all do every day.  But, I still need your help.

Many of you own your own businesses and I’m sure can relate to the feeling or the fear of having you livelihood stripped from you while you helplessly stand there and watch.  I grew up in those greenhouses.  I helped build those greenhouses.  Those greenhouses and my family paid with their profits and tears for me to be where I am today.  Those greenhouses are gone.  
All thats left is the determination and dedication (some may call it old yankee stubbornness) to pick up the pieces and rebuild.  Jodie does not want to give up.  She does not want to feel sad and pout.  She wants her life back.  And this is where your help comes in.

Some of you may know that lately I have started a new venture and have been creating pop-up restaurants and food festivals with my business partner Aaron Cohen.  These events are made possible by the guests who are excited and by my friends who are always there to bail me out when my ideas are bigger than my reach.  These pop-ups have gained attention, respect and buzz very quickly.  We will continue to do these and make them fun, however right now my attention is on using that attention to get that audience to help.  
What I am asking of any or all of you, and to help me put on an event that is going to a new charity.  None of you have ever worked with this charity, but I can assure you it is legit.  Whatever funds we can raise will go directly to one person…my mom.  I have ideas about how we can create this event and how we can help her, but this community is stronger and more capable than me alone.  I am not asking anyone here to open their pockets.  I’m asking you to open your minds and your hearts and help me help someone very close to me.  Whether you can suggest a means to an answer or you can put us in touch with people that can help us, anything and everything is appreciated.  I hate asking for favors, but this favor is not for me and that is why I am asking for your help.

Please feel free to contact me directly.  I will filter and forward all information to my mom and the other people that will be helping us conquer this.  Again, I can’t thank you enough for all you do for me and for others on a daily basis.  On behalf of myself and my mom, thank you for the help.

Sincerely,

Will Gilson