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AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY RAISES MORE THAN $200,000 AT 10th ANNUAL TASTE OF HOPE

Dozens of City’s Finest Restaurants Plus Generous Sponsors and Corporations Helped Curate an Evening of Food and Fundraising Headlined by alum Dale Talde, Actor Richard Kind, CBS News’ Chris Wragge and Travel Industry Pioneer Stacy Fischer-Rosenthal

New York, NY - May 2015: A decade since its debut, Taste of Hope, American Cancer Society’s signature annual culinary, wine and spirit tasting soirée, continues to dominate the Spring fundraising scene. This past Thursday, April 30th, more than 800 attendees gathered for a foodie-filled evening at the newly opened Metropolitan West (639 West 46th Street), sipping and savoring their way through two floors of food and entertainment while supporting ACS’s mission to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. The event was a success, surpassing ACS’s $200,000 fundraising goal with donations still coming in! The silent auction, which featured items fit for foodies, sports fans, Broadway enthusiasts and more, reigned in more than $21,000 in bids with items still available at the online auction: http://tastenyc15.auction-bid.org/micro2.php through May 11th.

In his fourth year as the event’s emcee, CBS News’ Chris Wragge took to the stage to oversee the evening’s program. After encouraging the crowd to donate and bid on the evening’s silent auction items, he introduced leading actor and New York resident, Richard Kind. No stranger to the stage, Kind had the audience laughing and captivated as he welcomed this year’s Chef Honoree, Dale Talde. Known for his role on Top Chef and his three local restaurants, Talde, Pork Slope and Thistle Tavern, Talde thanked the American Cancer Society for their recognition and pledged his support towards one of his own, a sous chef in his kitchen who is braevely fighting cancer himself. American Cancer Society’s COO Kris Kim had the honor of introducing this year’s Survivor Honoree, Stacy Fischer-Rosenthal. Cancer free since 2002, Fischer-Rosenthal encouraged the crowd with advice on early detection and how effective family support can be to fight the fight.

Leading New York chefs and restaurateurs that helped make the evening a success included: Alidoro, Bareburger, Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse, Biricchino Restaurant, Bodega Negra at Dream Downtown, Bonne Fête Baking Inc., Bruce Cost Ginger Ale, Buddakan, Calle Ocho Restaurant, Carlo’s Bakery, Chef One, CHOCOL8 KISS, DAVIDsTEA, Delicatessen, Devocion USA, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Doc D Southern Desserts, Dos Caminos, FIKA, Greecologies, Kati Roll Company, Morris Tap & Grill, Paragon Tap & Table, Parkway Bakery & Tavern, Peanut Butter & Co., Prime Meats, Rock Center Café, Runner & Stone, Samosa Shack, Schatzie, Sensational Sauces, Serendipity 3, Sheraton Hotel, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Table, The Cecil & Minton’s, The Dessert Club by ChikaLicious, The Dessertist, The Flatiron Room, The Gander, The Little Beet, The Sea Grill, The Smith, Toloache, Tommy Bahama Bar – Restaurant – Store, Trust in us Catering, and William Greenberg Desserts.

Wine & spirit tastings were provided by: Vinitaly International, Banfi, Ferrari, Cantine Lunae, Terredora, ZONIN, Wine34, Wine Spectator, Wines of Sicilia DOC, Wines from Spain USA, Sho Chiku Bai Sake, Peroni and Tito’s Handmade Vodka.

Known nationally for his two turns on Bravo’s Top Chef, both as a contestant in Season 4 and Top Chef: All- Stars, Dale Talde has since become a trusted culinary visionary in the dining landscape. Following his longtime post at Buddakan in NYC, in January 2012 he opened his first eponymous restaurant TALDE, an Asian-American eatery in ’s Park Slope, with partners John Bush and David Massoni, the THREE KINGS Restaurant Group. After a quick rise to popularity, he and the THREE KINGS expanded their reach with the opening of Pork Slope in August of the same year, serving Talde’s take on classic American bar food. His culinary offerings continued to expand when he took over the kitchen at Thistle Hill Tavern, and again with the recent opening of a Jersey City outpost of TALDE and Carrino Provisions, an Italian market and osteria. In summer 2015, Dale and the THREE KINGS will open a third TALDE Miami Beach at the Thompson Hotel.

This year’s Survivor Honoree Stacy Fischer-Rosenthal bravely faced cancer head on and ultimately triumphed over the disease. She is the President of Fischer Travel Enterprises, a members-only travel concierge service focusing on luxury travel experiences. She also sits on the advisory board of various hotels, hospitality groups and travel publications including Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Ritz Carlton Hotels and Resorts and JG Black Book of Travel, among others. Fischer-Rosenthal was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2001 and after a course of treatment including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, she has been cancer-free since 2002. Following her courageous personal battle, Fisher-Rosenthal has been an active supporter for cancer awareness and research and graciously lent her name and story to the 10th annual American Cancer Society’s Taste of Hope.

The American Cancer Society is honored by the tremendous corporate support received each year for this delicious cause. Among the 2015 sponsors were: Mercedes-Benz , Alex + Ani, Olshan, Organic Avenue, HOPE Foods, UHY Advisors Inc., CBS 2 & WLNY 10/55, Vinitaly International, Wine34, Wine Spectator, FreshDirect, Mozaik, Sabert and Eurostruct. The 800+ attendees had the opportunity to purchase Birthday Candles, symbolizing American Cancer Society’s role as “the official sponsor of birthdays,” as well as bid on silent auction prizes. Leading organizations which provided auction prizes included: Wine Spectator, John Boos & Co., BEX nyc, Soul Cycle, The Stanton Social, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Tea Forte, NFL, and Marriott Marquis Hotel.

For more information about the 2015 event, visit www.tasteofhopenyc.org, follow @ACSTasteofHope on Twitter and Facebook www.facebook.com/tasteofhope.

For media inquiries, please contact KB Network News at 212-929-3455, [email protected] or [email protected]. For event inquiries, please contact Elizabeth Mayer at American Cancer Society at 212-237-3889 or [email protected].

About the Taste of Hope: Taste of Hope® was founded in 2005 by the American Cancer Society. They created this fundraiser as a way to celebrate New York dining while raising funds to help underwrite the ACS’s mission to fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. Between the early 1990s and 2013 the Society has seen a 20 percent decrease in the overall cancer death rate, which means they have helped to avoid about 1.2million cancer deaths and created the potential for more birthday celebrations.

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