{"id":12801,"date":"2015-06-15T23:06:08","date_gmt":"2015-06-16T04:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=12801"},"modified":"2015-06-15T23:08:25","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T04:08:25","slug":"2015-celebrity-chef-cookoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brubakers.us\/?p=12801","title":{"rendered":"2015 Celebrity & Chef Cookoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian and I had a blast at the Celebrity & Chef Cookoff<\/a> on Tuesday night. It’s a benefit for the Wichita Orpheum Theatre<\/a> and it’s one of our favorite fundraising events.<\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We missed it last year because we were celebrating Brian’s 40th birthday in the Dominican Republic<\/a>. Our friend Jimmy (pictured above) who is on the Orpheum board was nice enough to save us a spot at the table this year.<\/p>\n

The event has grown so much since the last time we attended in 2013. The event was held at the Wichita Marriott hotel that year. Because of the increased attendance they had to move the event to the Intrust Bank Arena<\/a> last year and that’s where the event was held again this year.<\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brian and I are nerds and actually asked for permission to park in the special Lexus VIP parking lot across from the arena. Lots of other people parked there but I didn’t see any other yellow hang tags. I guess we didn’t have to ask for permission after all because it was pretty much open to the public. LOL. We always follow the rules, though.<\/p>\n

\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I’m not sure if they did the same thing last year but this year they had our bid numbers printed on our wristbands. It made me feel like a hospital patient, which was odd, but made bidding really convenient so, in that regard, it was brilliant.<\/p>\n

I didn’t really find anything that I couldn’t live without in the silent auction but some of the live auction packages were really good. I really wanted the “Movie Night at the Orpheum” package where you could have a private movie night for up to 1,200 guests, which would be great for a birthday or anniversary celebration. The package included free popcorn and fountain drinks for 500 people. If only we had that many friends!<\/p>\n

The other package that we found appealing was the “Rock the Intrust Bank Arena” package for a concert suite, food, and beverages at the Intrust Bank Arena for the Boston and Blue Oyster Cult concert on August 9<\/a>. The package includes use of the concert suite, 16 tickets (which is about how many friends we have that might be interested in going), 3 parking passes and $500 to spend on food and beverages (not including sales tax and gratuity). This would have been a perfect way to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary, which is on the 10th. Alas, the bidding started out at our max budget. LOL.<\/p>\n

I think they had record-breaking attendance this year and they also had great participation from area restaurants who generously donated food and services for the event. We got to try food from restaurants we haven’t even visited. <\/p>\n

The following restaurants hosted tasting tables:<\/p>\n