'Hello, Gay People,' cheers Kathy Griffin as she strolls into the Lincoln Park kitchen of Jeff Grinspoon and Jon Foley, the hosts for this year's GenderPAC Celebrity Cook-Off. 'This is my first time here—what a shit-hole!'
Her audience, about 100 strong, erupts into laughter.
'Seriously,' she says, pausing to take in the gleaming, high-tech kitchen—a room worthy of its own reality show—'I am so moving in here with my drunken parents.'
The April 1 benefit attracted a lively and, at times, rowdy mix of predominately gay men, including familiar faces such as Art Johnston and Pepe Pena ( co-owners of Sidetrack ) as well as Mark Smithe, of Walter E. Smithe Furniture.
The cook-off, a friendly competition between two teams, was judged by Griffin and two raffle winners. Dan Smith and Steve McDonagh of The Hearty Boys and the Food Network's Party Line with the Hearty Boys made up Team I; Karen Grievson, chef de cuisine for Avec restaurant and Shelley Young, founder and chef instructor for The Chopping Block, were Team II.
The teams were each given a surprise bundle of ingredients, some common ingredient that could be used by both teams, and a time allotment of 30 minutes to create a cocktail, starter, main course and dessert. All surprise ingredients had to be included in the final 'menu.'
Surprise ingredients included food items such as a very phallic-looking English cucumber ( which drew appreciative oohs and aahs from the crowd ) , Wonder Bread, ice cream cone cups and pink marshmallow peeps.
During the event, guests were encouraged to watch the chefs in action or, if they preferred, could mix and mingle throughout the house and indulge in cocktails. A three-man camera crew from Griffin's Bravo reality series, My Life on the D-List, were on hand to capture the comedienne, an Oak Park native, in action.
Griffin—obviously in her element—was warm and engaging, and readily agreed to pose for pictures as did her husband Matt and a three-man camera crew from her series. Chatter topics included 'Top Chef,' which she hasn't seen yet, but 'it must be good, because it's done by the same people that do Project Runway,' the Zone Diet ( which she is currently on ) , and her luxe room at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago, which was a co-sponsor of the cook-off.
However, it was one topic in particular that really worked the crowd into a fizzy lather: Oprah. As live auction items were announced, Griffin enthusiastically encouraged the crowd to bid on the cooking class and dinner with Art Smith: 'You KNOW that Oprah's chef knows what Oprah and Gayle are really up to at 3 a.m., you know what I'm saying?! Oh, and I love that Oprah is putting back on the pounds! For me, every pound Oprah gains is a hug from Jesus!'
The evening had its more sobering moments as well. Riki Wilchins, executive director of GenderPac, emphasized the mission and purpose of the organization—to end discrimination and violence caused by gender stereotypes—during the evening's opening and closing remarks. She noted the importance of raising public awareness of hate crimes and to educate elected officials on the need for law and public policy that discourages gender-based violence.
Team II were crowned the Cook-Off winners, but the evening's true winners were GenderPAC and its supporters, who raised $45,000 ( after expenses ) from ticket and raffle sales.