The "Party on the River", 2009 HAM JAM & Classic Car Festival this Nov. 21st., & 22nd. is sure to be a huge success! HAM JAM has joined forces with Cripple Dog Events, Bad Ass Speed Shop & the North Florida Show Car Association to create, promote & produce the very finest Festival of the year in the Southeast. No expense has been spared to offer the general public a very high quality, multi-faceted event that will provide 2 days & nights of fun and entertainment for the entire family!

This festival will provide pure excitement for the family, from Camel Rides to Classic Collectible Cars to the very finest food & beverages in the South! All of this without breaking the budget! Don't miss it!

For more information
call 904.838.5530
fax: 904-541-0709

http://www.hamjam.org/

Headline Entertainment
Saturday,  November 21st  at 8 PM

The Kentucky Headhunters is a Grammy Award-winning American country rock band. The Kentucky Headhunters has released seven studio albums, two compilations, and twenty singles. In addition, the band has won three Country Music Association awards and an Academy of Country Music award.

Featured Attractions:
Black Hole Slide, Disco Dome, Obstacle Course, Ladies Oasis Spa, Sports Arena, R/C Buggy Races, Little Talladega Speedway, Cute Baby Contest, "Free Beer for a Year" Contest, Classic Car Corral, Wine Tasting,  Outdoor Big Screen T.V., Super Vendor Area, Top 50 Car & Truck Awards. Trophies, Prizes & Giveaways all Weekend!
Show entrants registration starts at 8 A.M. (Entry Fee of $40 includes admission for 2)
General Admission, $15 Adults, Kids under 12, $5.
Presented by Cripple Dog Events, Ham Jam, Bad Ass Speed Shop & the North Florida Show Car Association
Schedule of Events:
Saturday, Nov. 21st:

Vehicle registration, 8 A.M. to 6 P.M.
Party starts at 11 A.M.
All Rides & Attractions open at 11 A.M.
Judging begins at 12 Noon
Live Entertainment begins at 2 P.M.
Prize Drawings at 2, 4, 6 & 8 P.M.  (Must be present to win)
Cute Baby Contest at 6 P.M.
"Free Beer for a Year Drawing at 6:30 P.M.
HEADLINE ENTERTAINMENT: 
The Kentucky Headhunters --Grammy Award-winning American country rock band. 8PM
Party ends at ? (24 hour security is provided for show cars left overnight)
Sunday, November 22nd:

Vehicle Registration 8 A.M. to 12 Noon
Party starts at 11 A.M.
All Rides & Attractions open at 11 A.M.
Prize Drawings at 2, 4 & 6 P.M.  (Must be present to win)
Live Entertainment begins at 2 P.M.
Car Show Awards Ceremony at 5:00 P.M.
50/50 drawing at 6 P.M.  (A portion of the proceeds to benefit Wolfson Children's Hospital)
Party ends at ?

8th Annual Oyster Roast
Friday, November 20th 7 p.m.
Garden Club of Jacksonville

Support Riverkeeper and also enjoy one of the best parties of the year! Outstanding food, music, fellowship, and of course, lots of oysters.
Tickets: $125 each, $75 each if 35 years of age or younger.

A popular restaurant review program on NECN is hosting a food-based event later this month in Sharon, MA. Billy Costa's TV Diner will be holding its 3rd annual TV Diner Platinum Plate Gala at the Herb Chambers Lexus showroom on Route 1 on Saturday, November 21 from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, with a number of restaurants and food providers participating. Some Boston-area dining spots that will be at the event include Burton's Grill, Asana at the Mandarin Oriental Boston, Ecco, Allora Ristorante, the Red Rock Bistro, and Taranta.

Entertainment at the TV Diner Platinum Plate Gala will be provided by the 10-piece Hip Pocket Orchestra. An auction will also be held at the event (proceeds go to Cradles to Crayons, a charity partner of TV Diner). Tickets for the event are $100.

For more information on the 3rd annual TV Diner Platinum Plate Gala, please go to the TV Diner link below:

http://www.necn.com/The-3rd-Annual-TV-Diner

From John T. Edge in The New York Times: THIS month, New Orleans is having a party for the po’ boy.

At the New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival on Nov. 22, as brass bands play and celebrators hoist drinks, serious-minded panelists will tell tales of long-lost po’ boy shops. They will speak of the import of this city’s signature sandwich, piled with roast beef and gravy or corn-flour-breaded and fried shrimp, slathered with mayonnaise, paved with sliced pickles and sliced tomatoes, strewn with shredded lettuce, wrapped in butcher paper.

Cooks, from restaurants as varied as Emeril’s and Jack Dempsey’s, will fry, stuff, dress and wrap for what is expected to be an overflow crowd.

And in what organizers are calling a French Bread Fight, a combatant portraying Jared Fogle, the calorie-conscious Subway pitchman, will square off against a combatant representing John Gendusa, the baker who, in 1929, fashioned the first modern New Orleans-style, French bread loaf, the base on which po’ boys have since been built.

If all goes the way it’s planned, as fragments of crust fly and a partisan crowd shouts, Mr. Gendusa will beat Mr. Fogle with a loaf of stale bread.

Such sturm and staging is good fun, but the sobering thought is this: If a sandwich needs a street festival, for which press coverage has been curried and stale bread weaponized, then that sandwich might be imperiled.

Po’ boy preservationists recognize a range of culprits, inside and outside the city limits.

A creeping monoculture is the most frequently cited threat, exemplified by chains like Subway and Quiznos, which are making inroads south of I-10.

Katherine Whann, who, along with her brother Sandy Whann, operates Leidenheimer Baking Company, the city’s dominant baker of po’ boy bread, frames the struggle in practical as well as cultural terms.

“Most po’ boy shops don’t have off-street parking,” she said, from a perch at Hermes Bar in the French Quarter, as she bit into an oysters Foch po’ boy, stuffed with fried oysters, smeared with pâté. “They don’t have advertising budgets. They don’t have Jared. But what they do have is a history in this place.”

A problem that’s more difficult — possibly reflecting a drop in expectations set by fast-food purveyors — is that the quality of some po’ boy shops has declined.

Of course, many still hew to tough standards.

The uptown stalwart Domilise’s Po-Boys, in business more than 75 years, cranks out textbook roast beef po’ boys and fried oyster po’ boys, cooking each batch of bivalves to order, and piling all on Leidenheimer bread, delivered twice daily.

At Zimmer’s Seafood, a working-class market established in 1980 in the city’s Gentilly neighborhood, the proprietor Charleen Zimmer buys Louisiana shrimp from her cousin. (Her husband, Craig Zimmer, works a shrimp boat, too.)

When a customer orders a fried shrimp po’ boy, she reaches first into a bin of iced shrimp, then for a coating of corn flour. And her bread could not be fresher, for Mrs. Zimmer buys sesame-seeded loaves from her neighbor, John Gendusa Bakery.

But a recent tour of old-guard makers found that some paradigmatic players, like Mother’s, a tourist favorite in the central business district, are not aging well.

In suburban Metairie, Radosta Grocery, a beloved checkered-cloth joint, still cooks top rounds for roast beef po’ boys. But Don Radosta, an owner, said slicing lettuce for sandwiches is now too laborious. Instead, he buys shredded iceberg, delivered in plastic-wrapped bundles. And he’s not alone.

Preservationists rail against the lowering of standards. In response, they’re setting standards of their own and, perhaps, kindling a renaissance.

Benjamin Wicks, proprietor of Mahony’s Po-Boy Shop on Magazine Street, open since the summer of 2008, is a raver and ranter with the heart of an old-timer. He makes money selling soft-shell crab po’ boys but also offers po’ boys made with liver cheese, a cold-cut analogue to liverwurst, to signal his respect for the sandwich’s Depression-era roots. New York Times Full Story

From Grub Street San Francisco: Thomas Keller showed up on the Today show Nov. 6 to promote Ad Hoc at Home, All-Clad cookware, and, naturally, teach Al Roker and the team how to make his famous fried chicken. Ann Curry is visibly horrified by Keller's direct handling of the scorchingly hot fresh-from-the-oil chicken, and he reassures her by pointing out that after years in the kitchen, he's got "asbestos fingers." Watch the video for that, plus plenty more hijinx.

 

From Lynn Andriani, Publishers Weekly: Last week’s issue of PW listed our editors’ picks for the best books of the year. Five out of the 100 were books about food: Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller (Artisan); Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-time Eater by Frank Bruni (Penguin Press); Gourmet Today: More than 1000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen, edited by Ruth Reichl (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt); Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes by Lidia Matticchio Bastianichand Tanya Bastianich Manuali (Knopf); and Momofuku by David Chang and Peter Meehan (Clarkson Potter). While we’re the first to agree those books deserve props, here are 10 more (plus 10 honorable mentions) from this year that also warrant attention.

Best "meat isn’t everything" cookbook
Almost Meatless: Recipes That Are Better for Your Health and the Planet by Joy Manning Joy Manning and Tara Mataraza Desmond (Ten Speed)

Manning and Desmond want to help Americans compose meals that are both tasty and filling without having a slab of meat as the overbearing star ingredient. They do an admirable job, with a burger recipe wherein black beans and bulgur are mashed together with a minimum of ground beef to make a patty that is full-size, fully delicious and less meaty; a recipe for gyros using a small amount of lamb amped up with tzatziki sauce and fava beans fragrant with lemon, garlic and fresh herbs; and other great dishes.

Honorable mention: Hudson Valley Mediterranean: The Gigi Good Food Cookbook by Laura Pensiero (Morrow) 

Best "what do you mean, less meat?" book
Lobel's Meat Bible: All You Need to Know about Meat and Poultry from America's Master Butchers by Stanley Lobel, Evan Lobel, Mark Lobel and David Lobel (Chronicle)

Lead us into temptation, indeed. The Lobels magnificently explain the difference between shell steak and tenderloin, hanger steak and skirt steak; lay out the proper way make steak tartare, beef jerky and carbonade of beef in Belgian beer; and give recipes for Alsatian pork-and-potato casserole, Kansas City–style baby back ribs and more. 

Honorable mention: Morton's The Cookbook: 100 Steakhouse Recipes for Every Kitchen by Klaus Fritsch with Tylor Field III and Mary Goodbody (Clarkson Potter) 

Best book for cooks who don’t already own a Greek cookbook
How to Roast a Lamb: New Greek Classic Cooking by Michael Psilakis and Barbara Kafka (Little, Brown)

Psilakis, chef and owner of New York City's Kefi and Anthos, honors Greek cuisine in this nostalgic and charming book. More than a collection of recipes, it’ a celebration of Greek culture and its extraordinary effect on the author. Each section begins with a personal story demonstrating how Psilakis’s love of food was ingrained in him, followed by wonderful recipes.

Honorable mention: Vefa’s Kitchen by Vefa Alexiadou (Phaidon)

Best virtual trip to the Big Easy
My New Orleans: The Cookbook by John Besh (Andrews McMeel)

Besh’s book is a charming tribute to the roots and rituals surrounding such iconic dishes as crawfish and rice, muffaletta sandwiches, café au lait and beignets, fried chicken, po’boys and even snow cones (they were invented at Hansen’s in 1939). It’s also a beautiful compendium of artful photos of foods like crumbly lavender madeleines with thick Louisiana citrus pots de crème.

Honorable mention: DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style by David Guas and Raquel Pelzel (Taunton) 

Best book about a not-so-obvious cuisine
The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe's Western Coast by David Leite and Nuno Correia (Clarkson Potter)

Whatever your stance on salt cod, Leite, a three-time James Beard–award winner and proprietor of LeitesCulinaria.com, has a recipe for it you’ll like. In this gorgeous book, he highlights ingredients and techniques that define Portuguese cooking today. Stone soup enlivened with spicy chouriço sausage; simple-yet-elegant duck breasts sauced with white port and black olives; a dip made with anchovies, green olives, cilantro, and whole milk are just some of the other gems here.

Honorable mention: Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen by David Sax (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) 

Best "quick, homemade bread!" book
Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day by Peter Reinhart (Ten Speed)

Here is master bread baker Reinhart's answer to the artisan bread-in-no-time revolution. His 50 recipes for bread, bagels, pizza and pastry really are foolproof. He also shares shaping tricks, oven techniques and ways to make great bread without expensive bakery tools.

Honorable mention: My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method by Jim Lahey with Rick Flaste (Norton) 

Best handy reference
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman (Scribner)

Ruhlman explains that when you know a culinary ratio, it's like instantly knowing a thousand recipes. For instance, when making cookies, all you need to know is 1-2-3 (1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts flour). Biscuit dough is 3-1-2 (3 parts flour, 1 part fat, and 2 parts liquid). Vinaigrette: 3-1 (3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar). The truth shall set you free!

Honorable mention: Notes on Cooking: A Short Guide to an Essential Craft by Lauren Braun Costello and Russell Reich (RCR Creative Press) 

Best reason to get flour all over the kitchen
Rose’s Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum (Wiley)

From towering creations for weddings and other special events to baby cakes for bite-size indulgence, from the simplest apple upside-down cake and yellow butter cupcakes to the elegant rose-shaped genoise and the stunning holiday pinecone cake, Beranbaum goes into great detail yet still manages to keep her guidelines friendly, accessible and unintimidating.

Honorable mention: All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted, and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered by Melissa Gray (Chronicle) 

Best very useful cookbook
Salt to Taste: The Key to Confident, Delicious Cooking by Marco Canora with Catherine Young (Rodale)

Like Ruhlman in Ratio, chef Canora is of the mind that confident cooking is a result of mastering a select handful of straightforward recipes. Once you have them down, then you can experiment and improvise based on season and palate. It’s a terrific approach, and Canora lays it out with 100 smart recipes for green bean and potato salad, chicken liver crostini and other simple, delicious dishes.

Honorable mention: New Classic Family Dinners by Mark Peel (Wiley)

Best elevation of a classic cuisine
Stir: Mixing It Up in the Italian Tradition by Barbara Lynch (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

James Beard Award-winning Lynch, chef-owner of Boston’s famed No. 9 Park and several other notable restaurants, offers a gorgeous, mouth-watering book that includes recipes for such treats as prune-stuffed gnocchi with foie gras sauce and pan-fried cod with chorizo and clam ragout.

Honorable mention: Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Tradition by Gerald Hirigoyen with Lisa Weiss (Ten Speed) 

Publishers Weekly

From Chuck Sudo of Playboy: Late nights at diners are undiluted shots of Americana. Set among heaping mounds of starch, bottomless cups of coffee and enough polished chrome to mark a Golden Age, the best diners evoke nostalgia for years gone by. Wherever there‚s a last call, late-night diners serve as salvation for those who aren't quite ready to go home. And while late-night diners are consistent, regardless of where they're located and right down to waitresses who call all their customers, "Hon," there are a few establishments that are a cut above the rest. Whether it be a signature sandwich like the Diner Grill's "Slinger" in Chicago, or an authentic ambiance such as the one found in Mickey's Dining Car Cafe in Minnesota, these standout late-night nosh spots have something that gives them a character all their own. We sifted through the many qualified contenders and picked 10 that truly embody the American late-night experience. 

The Top 10 Late-Night Diners:

1. 11th Street Diner, Wilkes-Barre, PA
   
2. The Dining Car & Market, Philadelphia
   
3. Majestic Diner, Atlanta
   
4. Prince's Hot Chicken Shack, Nashville
   
5. Mickey's Dining Car Cafe, St. Paul
   
6. Clover Grill, New Orleans
   
7. Orphan Andy's, San Francisco
   
8. The Original Pantry Cafe, Los Angeles
   
9. Diner Grill, Chicago
   
10. Big Nick's, New York

See Story on Playboy

• Atlanta:
  
  • Bistro Niko (3344 Peachtree Road, Atlanta)
  • Gem City Bar and Grill (800 Whitlock Avenue, Marietta)
  • Whitlock's Grill (990 Whitlock Ave, Marietta)
  • Pure Taqueria (300 N. Highland Ave.)
  • El Toro (687 Memorial Drive)
• Austin:
  
  • Two Hot Mamas Grill (2418 S. RM 620)
  • Snack Bar (1224 S. Congress Ave.)
• Baltimore:
  
  • Mr. Rain's Fun House (American Visionary Art Museum)
  • Tapas Adela (Fells Point)
• Boston:
  
  • Syphony 8 (8 Westland Avenue, Symphony)
  • Sal's Pizza (299 Washington Street, Woburn, MA)
  • Lord Hobo (92 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, MA)
• Chicago:
  
  • DMK Burger Bar (2954 N. Sheffield Ave)
  • Pitchfork  (2922 W. Irving Park Rd.)
  • Gene's Sausage Shop at Delicatessen Meyer (4750 N. Lincoln Ave.)
  • Katakana (2829 W. Armitage Ave.)
  • Melanthios Greek Char House (3116 N. Broadway)
  • Big Star (1531 N. Damen Ave.)
• Cincinnati:
  
  • The Landing Bistro (Nov. 23, 1525 Genntown Drive, Lebanon)
• Columbus:
  
  • Hania's Olde World Cuisine (North Market)
• Dallas:
  
  • Dish (4123 Cedar Springs Road)
  • Rok Republic (2922 N Hall St)
  • Cedars Mediterranean Mezza (6125 Berkshire)
  • Casa Blanca Sabor (Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff)
  • Jupiter House (503 W. University Drive, Denton Square, Denton)
• Denver:
  
  • The Tilted Kilt (1201 16th Street)
• Detroit:
  
  • Grape Leaves (24700 Greenfield Road, Oak Park)
• Honolulu:
  
  • V-Lounge (1344 Kona Street)
• Houston:
  
  • Canopy (3939 Montrose)
  • Bistro Alex (Hotel Sorella, 800 W. Sam Houston Parkway)
  • Yelapa Playa Mexicana Restaurant (2303 Richmond Ave.)
  • Beaucoup Bar & Grill (Old Spanish Trail)
  • Stella Sola (1001 Studewood)
  • Eddie V's Prime Seafood (12848 Queensbury Lane, CityCentre)
• Indianapolis:
  
  • Yuki Sushi and Thai (Castleton Square Mall)
  • Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern (1130 W 86th St)
  • Calvin Fletcher's Coffee Company (615 Virginia Ave.)
  • Imbibe (1105 Shelby St)
• Kansas City:
  
  • 715 (715 Massachusetts St. in Lawrence)
  • Five Guys Burgers and Fries (12025 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park)
  • Dickey's Barbecue Pit (7284 W. 121st St., Overland Park)
  • Shabby Hattie's Tea Room ((113 N. Main, Parkville)
• Las Vegas:
  
  • Lola's Louisiana Kitchen (241 West Charleston Blvd)
• Los Angeles:
  
  • The Yard (119 Broadway, Santa Monica)
  • Umami Urban (1520 N Cahuenga Blvd)
  • Soi 7 at Maison (518 W. 7th)
  • Choza Mama (Old Pasadena)
• Louisville:
  
  • Cocos Lokos Caribbean Cuisine (1850 S. Hurstbourne Parkway, in the shopping plaza off Bunsen Parkway)
  • The Mercantile (6600 Sunset Blvd.)
  • La Bottega Marino (Santa Monica)
• Miami:
  
  • Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar (Dolphin Mall in Miami)
  • LaSpada's Original Hoagies Boca Raton (2240 NW 19th St., Boca Raton)
• Milwaukee:
  
  • Cafe Corazon (3129 N. Bremen St.)
• Nashville:
  
  • Brio Bistro Italiano (8128 Highway 100)
• New Orleans:
  
  • Tiramisu 55 (123 Carondelet St.)
  • Slice Pizzeria (5538 Magazine St.)
• New York:
  
  • Spot Dessert Bar (13 St. Mark's Place)
  • Maialino (Gramercy Park Hotel, 2 Lexington Ave)
  • Bar Henry (90 W Houston St)
  • Celsius (Bryant Park, 42nd St), Mermaid Oyster Bar (79 Macdougal St)
  • Northern Spy Food Company (511 East 12th St)
  • Purple Yam (1314 Cortelyou Road, Ditmas Park, Brooklyn)
  • Roman's (243 DeKalb Avenue, Fort Green, Brooklyn)
  • Dumbo General Store (111 Front St, Dumbo, Brooklyn)
  • La Petite Provence (255 Smith St, Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn)
  • Cafe Mei Mei (231 Court St, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn)
  • Cascabel Taqueria (1542 Second Ave)
  • Le P'tit Paris (256 Prospect Park West, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn)
  • Northern Spy Food Co. (511 E 12th St)
• Orlando:
  
  • 4Rivers Smokehouse (2103 W Fairbanks Ave)
• Philadelphia:
  
  • Con Murphy's (1700 Ben Franklin Parkway)
  • Joey's Stone Fired Pizza (517 South St)
  • Percy Street Barbecue (900 South St.)
  • Tiffin (8080 Old York Road),   
• Phoenix:
  
  • Regions Bistro (Tempe)
• Pittsburgh:
  
  • Avenue B (5501 Centre Avenue)
• Portland:
  
  • Brasserie Montmarte (626 S.W. Park Avenue)
• San Francisco:
  
  • Urban Picnic (125 Kearny St.)
  • Uptown Joe's (1500 Sutter St.)
• Seattle:
  
  • Dubsea Coffee (9910 8th Ave. S.W.)
  • Po Dogs (1009 E Union St)
  • Ground Control (6105 13th Ave. S., Georgetown)
• St. Louis:
  
  • Balaban's Wine Cellar & Tapas Bar (Nov. 20, 1772 Clarkson Road in Chesterfield)

• Austin:
  
  • WeFuse (120 E. Fourth St.)
  • Ms. B's 8015 Mesa Drive)
  • La Madeleine (3418 N. Lamar Blvd.)
• Baltimore:
  
  • Freda's Kitchen (Mount Washington)
  • Orchard Landing (Towson)
• Boston:
  
  • Brigham's Ice Cream (High Street)
  • C.F. Donovan's Pub (Dorchester)
• Chicago:
  
  • Pause (1107 W. Berwyn)
• Dallas:
  
  • Seabose (Trinity and Marsh)
  • Daddy Jack's Wood Grill (Deep Ellum)
• Denver:
  
  • Spud Brothers (2010 10th St)
  • Sunflower (1701 Pearl Street)
  • Theorie (1920 Market Street)
• Kansas City:
  
  • Cleat'z Sportz Bar and Grill (The Legends at Village West)
  • Sol Azteca Mexican Grill (542 Southwest Blvd)
  • Outback Steakhouse (6870 Johnson Drive)
• Milwaukee:
  
  • Pandl's (Bayside)
  • Good Life (1935 N. Water St.)
  • Cornby's (724 N. Water St.)
  • SportsBook (1434 Blake Street)
  • JC's Pub and Grill (628 N. Water St.)
• Nashville:
  
  • La Paz
• New York:
  
  • Etats-Unis (Upper East Side)
  • Zoe (Soho)
• Philadelphia:
  
  • Alison at Blue Bell
  • Ota-Ya (Warrington)
  • H.I. Rib & Co (Conshy)
• San Francisco:
  
  • Sozai (Sunset)

Yosemite’s Chefs' Holidays^® at The Ahwahnee^®, held each year in January and February, feature some of the world's most innovative and acclaimed chefs. These culinary adventures provide a showcase for the range of styles, personalities and trends that characterize the American cuisine scene.

The Empty Bowls Luncheon demonstrates community support for those who are coping with hunger in North Florida. Local celebrities (including media personalities) act as servers for the event. In addition to helping fight hunger, the luncheon presents a diverse program for all. Area students and senior citizen groups have created original, handcrafted ceramic bowls for every guest. Luncheon attendees are able to select just the right bowl to take home.

Local potters and ceramic artists have also donated their time and talents to create unique bowls. In addition, the Empty Bowls Luncheon includes celebrity signed bowls. Recognized personalities from the national and international stage have lent their names to the cause.

The annual Empty Bowls Luncheon has come to symbolize the beginning of Thanksgiving and the holiday season. We hope you join us for a memorable afternoon and help us fill the empty bowls in our community. All proceeds will benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Second Harvest North Florida has served those in need since 1979. In Jacksonville, the majority of the people served by the Food Bank are children and senior citizens. The common misconception is that hunger is experienced only by the homeless; however, this population comprises less than 10 percent of the people helped by the Food Bank.

In an effort to meet growing needs in our community, special events like Empty Bowls help to promote hunger awareness, raise much-needed funds, and show support for one of the nation’s most solvable social issues – food insecurity.

Tickets to the event are $25, with various sponsorship levels also available.