The Summer
Soirée
A beautiful evening of dine-around chef stations, live music, and community harvested from the fields of a working, sustainable farm.
An evening that grows from the ground up!
Guests wander between chef stations set throughout the Northside Hub, each one plated with produce grown just down the road before settling in for a live auction, hosted by our house band Soil + Soul, all before the sun goes down.
Grown Here, Served Here
Every station draws from PFP's own fields and Hudson Valley partner farms: a direct line from soil to plate that guests can taste.
Dine-Around Format
No seated courses! Guests move freely between chef stations at their own pace, sampling as they go.
Live Music
Soil + Soul sets the tone for the evening and hosts a short live call for our premium auction items around 6:15 PM.
Every Ticket Grows Something
Proceeds directly support PFP's sustainable growing practices, food access programs, and farmer training.
This Year's Partners
Led by Culinary Director and Board Member Chris Follari, this year's lineup brings together Hudson Valley kitchens for one night of farm-driven cooking.
Chris Follari, Hudson Valley Kitchen (Beacon)
Based in New York's beautiful Hudson Valley, Chris Follari is a seasoned culinary consultant who partners with restaurants, foodservice companies, and equipment manufacturers to create seasonally inspired, sustainably driven menus and elevate culinary programs through innovation and exceptional guest experiences.
Chris also serves on the Board of Transformation Kitchen, providing culinary leadership, supporting program development, and helping build partnerships with community and industry leaders. His work focuses on preparing participants for meaningful careers in the hospitality industry.
In 2026, Chris served as Event Director for Hudson Valley Chefs Celebrate Jacques, a fundraising initiative benefiting the Jacques Pépin Foundation as part of the nationwide 90/90 Celebrate Jacques celebration.
Prior to consulting, Chris held senior culinary leadership positions with SSP America, Guckenheimer, and Sodexo, where he served as Global Director of Culinary. He collaborated with teams throughout Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Nordics, Australia, and the United States, helping shape international menus and culinary strategies. Chris currently serves as Event Director for the Poughkeepsie Farm Project Summer Soirée, celebrating the farmers, chefs, artisans, and community members who strengthen the Hudson Valley's vibrant local food system.
Dan Kish, Smart Batch (Millbrook)
Dan Kish brings over 40 years of culinary expertise to the table as a founding member of Smart Batch, where he helps emerging and legacy food brands grow while staying true to what makes them special. A former SVP of Food at Panera Bread and Associate Dean for Culinary Fundamentals at the Culinary Institute of America, Kish has been featured on Good Morning America, Food Network, and in The New York Times for his work expanding access to great food.
Corwin Kave, Deer Mountain Inn (Tannersville)
Corwin Kave has led the kitchen at Deer Mountain Inn in the Catskills since 2021, earning the restaurant a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist nod for Best Chef: New York State alongside three consecutive Wine Spectator Awards of Excellence. Previously of Fatty Crab, Don Wagyu, and Ludlow House, Kave built his seasonally driven menu around Hudson Valley farms and foraged ingredients, sourcing from partners like Snowdance Farm.
Colleen Orlando, Little Loaf Bakeshop (New Paltz)
Colleen Orlando, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in San Francisco, brings over 15 years of bakery and café leadership experience. In 2020, she and her partner, Rian, moved across the country and opened Little Loaf Bakeshop together in early 2022. The all-vegan bakery specializes in croissant and danish, cakes, cupcakes, and both breakfast and lunch fare.
Kamel Jamal, River Valley Restaurant Group (Beacon)
Kamel Jamal is a Hudson Valley restaurateur, entrepreneur, and founder of River Valley Restaurant Group in Beacon, New York. He is the force behind a diverse collection of restaurants, including Angelina's, Tito Santana Taqueria, Beacon Bread Company, Vegetalian, Ziatün, and Piggy Bank BBQ. Born in a Palestinian refugee camp and, as he often says, "in the kitchen," Kamel's lifelong connection to food inspires his approach to hospitality. Through every restaurant, he celebrates culture, community, and the power of sharing a meal.
Laura & Georges, Oui Oui (Beacon)
Georges and Laura run Oui Oui on 2 Eliza Street in Beacon, a casual French comfort food staple. Their menus change seasonally for Brunch, Lunch & Dinner and create a whimsical playfulness with French culture and cuisine. Their ethos is to create a welcoming space with great food that is not settled in the traditional but in the everyday, where people can take a bite of what's happening on the streets of France.
Brian Paragas, Little Goat (Rhinebeck)
Brian Paragas is the Executive Chef of Little Goat in Rhinebeck, where his cooking is rooted in the farms and seasons of the Hudson Valley. Born and raised in New York City, his career has taken him through the kitchens of Hearth, Zahav, Vetri Cucina, and Blackberry Mountain. At Little Goat, he brings a Mediterranean sensibility to the ingredients of the region, drawing inspiration from culinary traditions around the world.
Anthony Sasso, Rosie General (Kingston)
Rosie General is a modern neighborhood general store, bakery, café, and delicatessen located in the historic Rondout district of Kingston, New York. Founded by siblings Nicole, Andrea, Ashley, and Chef Anthony Sasso. At the heart of Rosie General is a commitment to craftsmanship and regional sourcing. The shop features a daily selection of naturally leavened breads, handcrafted pastries, house-cured meats and fish, thoughtfully prepared sandwiches, and a carefully curated collection of pantry staples, cheeses, charcuterie, and products from local farmers and artisans. Every offering reflects a deep respect for seasonality, quality ingredients, and the producers who make them possible.
Erik Weatherspool, Gourmet Dining (Poughkeepsie)
Erik Weatherspool is a Regional Chef with Gourmet Dining, supporting culinary operations across higher education dining programs throughout the region. Known for his practical problem-solving and hands-on approach, Erik partners with campus teams on menu innovation, new dining concepts, and facility openings - shaping foodservice experiences for thousands of students, faculty, and guests every day. He brings that same spirit of feeding a community well to his station at the Soirée.
Andrew Cottle, Matriark Foods (New York City)
Andrew graduated from The Culinary Institute of America, completed early training at Blue Hill at Stone Barns and spent the first five years of his career in high-volume corporate dining environments with Compass Group USA. He joined Matriark Foods, where he helps design programs that incorporate upcycled farm surplus products into institutional food service, improving labor models, menu engineering and supporting corporate sustainability efforts. He is deeply committed to eliminating food waste at different points of the supply chain, and agrifood policy as a key tool to change our food systems.
Marcos Castro, BLACKBARN (Saugerties)
A graduate of the Culinary Institute at Hyde Park, Chef Marcos always knew he would one day call the Hudson Valley home. When asked how he would describe his cooking, "My style can be best described as seasonal with a special emphasis on local and sustainable ingredients. In my opinion, farm fresh is best for our communities, for our health and for our dinner tables."
Poughkeepsie Farm Project Farmers (Poughkeepsie)
With a combined 30+ years of farm experience, this beautiful and kind group stewards over 15 acres over land and donated over 44,000 lbs of fresh food into the HV community in 2025. PFP is a 501C3 farm established in 1999.
Pogliani Select (Catskill)
Celebrating its 11th anniversary, Pogliani Select is a Hudson Valley importer of single-estate extra virgin olive oils and traditional balsamic vinegars from multi-generational family producers in Italy and Croatia. Built on longstanding relationships with the families who grow the olives, care for the groves, and mill each harvest, the company is dedicated to provenance, authenticity, and education.
Tiny Greens Farm (Hopewell Junction)
Tiny Greens is a woman-owned, veteran family micro-farm producing sustainable and soil-grown microgreens in East Fishkill, New York. They provide a high-quality, hyper-local product that is healthy and fresh 365 days a year. With organic practices in mind, they deliver their produce to restaurants, grocery stores, and local establishments within 24 hours of harvest. Nicole Harris a Certified Clinician in Whole Food Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, and Owner/Operator of Tiny Greens Farm.
Glynwood (Cold Spring)
Glynwood is a Cold Spring nonprofit working to ensure the Hudson Valley is defined by food - training the next generation of farmers, supporting regional food businesses, and stewarding a working farm rooted in regenerative, pasture-based practices. Their livestock operation is certified Animal Welfare Approved, with cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry raised on pasture year-round. We're thrilled that Nicole Scott, Glynwood's Farm Director of Livestock Operation and Farm Outreach, and Maddie Morley, Livestock Manager, are donating pasture-raised beef for the Summer Soirée - a generous gift from two farmers who know exactly where dinner comes from, because they raised it.
Matriark Foods (New York City)
Matriark upcycles farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants into delicious, healthy products for food service, retail, and emergency food. We divert food loss from making a negative impact on the environment while supporting American farmers with a new market for their imperfect vegetables and creating greater access to the healthy food we all need. Matriark is on a mission to make nature-positive sourcing commonplace.
Plan Bee Farm Brewery (Poughkeepsie)
Plan Bee Farm Brewery is a family-owned, ground-to-glass farm brewery on 25 acres right here in Poughkeepsie, brewing wild-fermented farmhouse ales made entirely from New York State ingredients - most grown on the farm itself. Wild yeast is harvested straight from their beehives, beer is coolshipped overnight in open air, and everything ferments in oak - estate hops, heritage grains, well water, and homegrown fruits and herbs give every vintage a true taste of the land it came from. A regenerative farm pouring for a regenerative farm - we couldn't ask for a better neighbor behind the bar.
Anytime Farmhouse (New York City)
Founded by Maddy and Taylor, two friends who bonded over a shared love of agriculture, cooking, and dive bars, Anytime Farmhouse makes organic, regenerative canned cocktails and spirits crafted with farmers at the center. Their vodka is distilled from single-origin wheat grown through regenerative crop rotations, a practice that helps rebuild healthy soil and pull greenhouse gases from the air. Anytime is proud to share their full ingredient list on every can, a rare move in an industry that isn't required to disclose much at all. We're thrilled to pour their farm to can cocktails at the Soiree, a fitting pairing for an evening built on the same values.
Curious Elixirs (New York City)
Founded by JW Wiseman, Curious Elixirs got its start not far from here, in a Hudson Valley kitchen, where JW began tinkering with herbs, adaptogens, and botanicals from around the world to create something more interesting than club soda for the nights he wasn't drinking. What started as home experimentation grew into a line of complex, alcohol-free cocktails crafted by bartenders, with no added sugar and no shortcuts on flavor. We're delighted to pour Curious Elixirs at the Soiree, offering every guest, drinking or not, something worth raising a glass to.
Saratoga Water (Saratoga)
Saratoga Spring Water has been bottling premium natural spring water from its historic springs in Saratoga Springs, New York since 1872. Instantly recognizable in its signature cobalt-blue bottle, Saratoga has become a fixture at some of the country's finest restaurants, hotels, and tables. We're grateful to have Saratoga keeping guests refreshed throughout the evening.
Announced Soon
The Lineup Grows
Additional Hudson Valley chefs are being confirmed for this year's stations! Check back for the full lineup ahead of the event.
The Evening, Hour by Hour
Doors Open
Welcome drinks and first look at the silent auction tables.
Chef Stations Open
Dine-around begins... move freely between stations at your own pace.
Silent Auction Closes
Final bids close as the evening winds toward sunset.
Live Auction Call
A short live call for two premium items, hosted by Lisa Pellegrino.
Farewell
Thank-yous from PFP and a last round from the band.
Tickets
200 seats, one field. Tickets available now.
- Full dine-around access, all chef stations
- Live band & live auction call
- Silent auction bidding
- Open cocktail and mocktail bars
- A sweet send-off for guests
- Support food security and food justice in the Hudson Valley
Bid on the Hudson Valley
Silent bidding runs from 4-6 on items from Hudson Valley makers and stays with a short live call around 6:15 PM for a couple of standout pieces.