Dinner in the Dark is a charity event that brings together local chefs to create meals for patrons while raising money for those in need in the community. The event was started by Chefs Brian Okin and Jeffery Jarrett to strengthen bonds between chefs and give back through food. At a recent event at The Culinary Vegetable Institute, 11 chefs created 12 courses for over 90 guests, with the final course prepared on the spot by a randomly selected chef assisted by their peers.

1. “It’s like an open mic jam session for chefs”
INFORMATIONAL RELEASE

2. To All
Bring
Jam For a
together
Out for Local
chefs
The night charity
Media inquires please send to : kayla@kaylabarnes.com

3. The concept
Dinner in the Dark was conceptualized with the hope of bringing Chefs
together to share their craft and create a stronger bond within our trade.
But more importantly, DITD is our way of giving back to the community
that supports our drive and passion by patronizing our establishments.
What started as an idea, has evolved into one of the most significant
concepts Cleveland has ever had. In just over a year, DITD has raised
close to $70,000.00 to support members of our community who are in
need, while at the same time, bringing over 60 chefs together to share
their passion.
The Founders
Chef Brian Okin
Brian Okin’s down-to-earth personality coupled with his comic relief is a great
combination for any kitchen. A Cleveland native, Chef Brian has made a name for
himself by cooking with a European flair that has landed him spots of a variety of
major networks showcasing his culinary creations
Chef Jeffery Jarrett
Chef Jeff Jarrett has been an integral part of some of the best restaurants in the greater
Cleveland area. Breaking in to the industry at the AAA four-diamond rated “The
Leopard” in The Bertram Inn and Conference Center, he quickly rose to Executive
Chef before joining the opening team as Chef de Cuisine at Light Bistro, voted best
new restaurant in three prominent Northeast Ohio publications.
ORMATIONAL RELEASE
DINNERINTHEDARKCLEVELAND.COM CLEVELAND

4. The Culinary
Vegetable institute
August 2011, From Brian Okin
We did our monthly dinner at The Culinary Vegetable
Institute in Milan, Ohio. CVI is part of The Chefs Garden,
which is run by Farmer Lee Jones and Family. The Chefs
Garden offers a program called “Veggie U” which is a non-
profit designed to teach children about growing the food they
eat, as well as, eating properly. We were getting close to a
years worth of monthly dinners, and wanted to “twist” things
a bit and continue to keep our events exciting and create
more “in the dark” effect for the guests that have supporting
us and helping our dinners grow, so we threw in a few curve
balls for the guests, as well as, the chefs that were
participating. Typically we only feature 6 chefs but for this
dinner we had 11 chefs and 12 courses! The 12th course was a
mystery box from the farm and we drew a chefs name from a
hat. The chefs were unaware that we were doing this as we
announced it in front of the 90 plus guests at the start of the
evening. This made this one of our “favorite” dinners as the
guests were blown away by all the added excitement of almost
twice as many chefs and the opportunity to watch the chefs
create the last course a la minute. The camaraderie was
amazing as several other chefs pitched in to help the chef that
got his name pulled, create the last dish.
INFORMATIONAL RELEASE
DINNERINTHEDARKCLEVELAND.COM
CLEVELAND