Indulge in Mac & Cheese in Support of Vancouver’s Snacks for Kids Program

October 11, 2018

3 min read

A person in a firefighter uniform stands next to a person in a chef uniform holding a bowl of food on a plate in a restaurant setting.

Nothing beats mac ‘n’ cheese when it comes to comfort food. If you see it as somewhat of an occasional guilty pleasure but still love it, you’ll be excited to learn of a new initiative of the Vancouver Firefighters Charities.

This month you have free license to try multiple different mac and cheese renditions in restaurants across the city, all to help out a very worthy cause.

On October 18, 2018, at Admiral Seymour Elementary School, the Vancouver Firefighters Charitieswill be launching a fundraiser for their Snacks for Kids Program. The Program makes sure no kid goes hungry at Vancouver schools by providing them (discreetly) with nutritious snacks throughout the course of the school year. Snacks for Kids runs in 40 schools and after-school programs, feeding about 1,600 kids with 250,000 snacks annually. They also have a Take-Home Grocery Program for the times when school is not in session. Given the volume and the real need, support from the greater community is vital.

Two people sitting at a table outdoors, one wearing a gray hoodie with red text and the other in a dark blue shirt, smiling at the camera.

At the kick-off event, four of Vancouver’s top chefs, Adam Meade from The Teahouse, Ryan Gauthier from Glowbal Group, Erik Heck from the Flying Pig Group, and Wayne Sych from Joe Fortes, will be making mac and cheese for 150 hungry students, with Vancouver firefighters helping to serve the meal.

Then, from October 19-26, 2018, you can get involved and support this initiative. The chefs’ restaurants will be serving delicious and unique mac and cheese creations, with all proceeds going to the Snacks for Kids Program. Basically, it’s comfort food with a side of charitable goodness.

The versions you can expect to devour are as follows:

Flying Pig and Wild Tale Restaurants: Truffle mac and cheese with a trio of cheeses (white cheddar, mozza, and parmesan).

Smiling person in chef uniform and apron holding a plate of food outside a restaurant with menus displayed and the sign Flying Pig on the window.

Seasons in the Park: The cheese blend (smoked gouda, blue, white cheddar, and swiss) in this mac will make it stand-out.

The Teahouse: This baked mac and cheese promises to have tons of flavour, with roasted garlic and smoked cheddar.

Cardero’s: This baked mac and cheese features smoked cheddar and a panko crust.

The Sandbar: This version will be richly satisfying, with béchamel, a trio of cheeses (white cheddar, emmental, and parmesan), and a bread crumb topping.

Coast: Mac and cheese gets elevated with lobster, mozza, gruyere, cheddar, and parmesan.

A chef in a white coat holding a plate with a lobster dish inside a restaurant.

Joe Fortes Seafood and Chop House: If you’re more of a mac and cheese purist, you’ll like this classic version with swiss, white aged cheddar, and parmesan.