Friends of James Beard Enjoy Dinner Benefit at Winged Foot Golf Club

On November 10th of this year, the reserved, private, and internationally famous Winged Foot Golf Club welcomed guests to a “unique and groundbreaking” benefit event. On a pleasant Thursday evening, this exclusive club in Mamaroneck, NY played host to a Friends of James Beard Benefits (FOJBB) dinner, held to launch a new coffee table book you’ll be sure to see gracing fine living rooms around the country: Golf Kitchen.This unique and much anticipated project developed by GK CEO and world class culinary writer and photographer, Diana DeLucia, ushers readers through a culinary tour of some of the world of golf’s most impressive and beloved kitchens and dining rooms. The book’s many hundreds of pages are filled with elite club histories, intimate photographs, recipes, and stories from a selective 16 upscale golf clubs and destinations. “Diana has worked tirelessly to create this world class publication, which promotes the top caliber chefs and their craft in the private club world,” says Winged Foot Golf Club Executive Chef, Rhy Waddington, who is no stranger to performing culinary miracles in the name of the James Beard Foundation. And of Waddington, Diane Harris Brown, Director of Educational and Community Programming for the James Beard Foundation, says that his cooking is “elegant and technique-driven,” and that “the results have dazzled our guests and enriched our legacy.”The illustrious dinner also featured executive chefs from around the world who are featured among Golf Kitchen’s 500+ pages celebrating renowned world of the best culinary professionals of the high-end golf club world. This elite group of chefs guided Winged Foot Golf Club’s membership, as well as FOJBB benefactors, on a culinary journey through some of their most beloved dishes featured in the book. About the success of the evening, Winged Foot Executive Chef, Rhy Waddington told Private Club Marketing, “The whole room was just full of this fantastic smell. One of the most well-received dishes was a braised rabbit with Swiss chard ravioli and white truffles. We did a _foie gras_ with crab apple lollipop as a sort of appetizer which people loved as well…Often club chefs get forgotten about, so this was a real celebration.” The international chefs of the evening were from Emirates Golf Club and Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, while the domestic chefs were from Winged Foot, Sebonack GC in Southampton, and Cassique at Kiawah Island Club.In addition to Winged Foot Golf Club itself, the Golf Kitchen coffee table book also features stories, recipes, histories, and photographs from kitchens at places like Golf de l’Ocean in Morocco, Kingston Heath Golf Club in Australia, Emirates Golf Club in Dubai, Dorado Beach (a Ritz-Carlton Reserve,) in Dorado, Puerto Rico, and Cassique Golf Club in South Carolina, among others. According to Golf Kitchen’s media contact, “Portions of the proceeds from book sales will benefit World Central Kitchen, supporting impoverished children around the world,” as well as the Folds of Honor Foundation. “These chefs and their teams have inspired me,” said DeLucia after the special night. “…they are influencing other private clubs and staff to improve their culinary culture; they are making their members very proud.”The book is now available online at golfkitchen.com.