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 "I truly believe 'it’s never too late’–for anything one wants to do, whether it is to lose weight, create a healthy lifestyle, find true love, or start a business." So says Jenny Craig, who began her business at age 50 with one weight-loss center in Australia, and built a company with more than 600 locations and revenues of $350 million annually.
The WFFH is happy to announce that we will be honoring Jenny Craig at our December 15th Gala. Please join us at Astra and meet the one and only Jenny Craig, whose name is synonymous with successful weight loss and management.
Click here to buy a ticket, or a table for ten.
 WFFH will also be honoring New York City radio personality Valerie Smaldone for her work in ovarian cancer awareness. Read more about Valerie.
The 2007 Black Tie Fundraising Gala will be held December 15 at Astra, an intimate setting in Midtown Manhattan featuring the cuisine of  Charlie Palmer. Along with a cocktail party, plated dinner, silent auction, and presentations to honorees, the WFFH will present a fashion runway show to be MCed by CBS radio news reporter and Ms. United States Sophia Hall. Fashions for the show are being donated by Estelle's in Farmingdale, New York, and among our models will be ovarian cancer survivors and the president of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition NY-LI Division.
Funds raised at the Gala – which will focus on obesity and ovarian cancer – will be used for WFFH programming on women’s medicine, including scientific presentations, educational publications, consumer seminars, grand rounds, and grants to scientists in the fields of nutrition, diabetes, and ovarian cancer research.
Visit this site’s Registration page for information on how you can participate.
Astra
A dramatic evening event space, Astra is one of New York City’s leading event venues. Located in midtown Manhattan on the 14th floor of the Decoration and Design (“D&D”) Building, Astra is a unique concept providing serene elegance and urban sophistication with world-class cuisine by international chef Charlie Palmer, owner and chef at Aureole. Astra has been praised for the same bold flavors and stunning presentations that make Aureole one of the leading restaurants in New York.
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Charlie Palmer
One of the most highly regarded chefs in America today, Charlie Palmer has received critical acclaim for his signature “Progressive American” cuisine, a style which reinterprets classic European cooking using American artisanal products and small farm producers.
Beginning in 1988 with the opening of Aureole in New York, Charlie has combined his creative cooking spirit with his flair for business to establish an impressive roster of restaurants across the country including Charlie Palmer's Métrazur, which overlooks the main concourse at Grand Central Terminal in New York City; Aureole at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and Charlie Palmer Steak at The Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas; and Dry Creek Kitchen, located in the Palmer-owned boutique Hotel Healdsburg in Sonoma, California. In September 2002 Charlie opened Kitchen 22, an intimate neighborhood restaurant in the Flatiron section of New York City. In May of 2003, he ventured into new territory once again, this time heading south, opening Charlie Palmer Steak along Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. In June of 2003, Charlie formally began presiding over the menu creations and catering of The Stirling Club at Turnberry Place, an exclusive residential community just off the Strip in Las Vegas. |
Born and raised in upstate New York and classically trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Charlie Palmer first burst onto the New York dining scene in the mid-1980s when he was named executive chef at The River Café. He soon earned a prestigious three stars from The New York Times.
At the young age of 28, Charlie opened Aureole restaurant as chef and proprietor. It was at Aureole that his signature style began to emerge. Food & Wine magazine has said of Charlie, “Palmer is widely regarded by food lovers as a pioneer who realized decades ago that there was a strong demand for great food in America, not necessarily French.” Commenting on his culinary philosophy, Charlie says, “I realized that American cuisine was just in its infancy and I spent a lot of time thinking about what the idea of American cooking really meant to me as a chef.”
Charlie Palmer is the author of three cookbooks, Great American Food, published by Random House in 1996, Charlie Palmer’s Casual Cooking, published by Harper Collins in 2001, and The Art of Aureole, published in 2003 by Ten Speed Press. Charlie is also a frequent guest on NBC’s Today Show and, in a partnership with Seabourn Cruise Lines, has designed over 200 recipes that are featured aboard their elegant ships.
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Valerie Smaldone is perhaps best known for her unprecedented success holding the #1 position in the New York radio market as the midday host of 106.7 Lite-FM. She was also the co-creator, writer, producer and host of
"Spotlight On," a nationally syndicated program that featured in-depth interviews with top recording artists such as Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sting and Celine Dion, to name a few.