Ben Ostro is passionate about helping the 1 in 8 kids who are food insecure.
As chief executive officer of Chateau Luxe in North Phoenix, he’s proud his venue is the home of the charity-driven 32nd annual Taste of the NFL on Saturday, February 11.
“Sometimes the only meals these kids get are subsidized meals at school,” Ostro says. “Being in this business, it blows my mind. We have to prepare food for functions and, naturally, there is leftover food. I try to send it home with staff or donate it to a local charity. The reality, though, kills me that there are children going to bed hungry when there is a surplus of food here.”
Super Bowl LVII’s Taste of the NFL, presented by Frito-Lay, Quaker and the PepsiCo Foundation, is the league’s largest sanctioned charity event. It brings together top NFL players and legends, five celebrity chefs and 2,500 football and foodie fans for one cause: GENYOUth.
“We’re honored to have Taste of the NFL here at Chateau Luxe,” Ostro says. “It’s been the largest event we’ve ever had. To have something that not only brings together so much great food and beverage and has heart behind it is an amazing thing.”
Celebrity chefs including Andrew Zimmern, Carla Hall, Lasheeda Perry, Tim Love and Mark Boucher together with over 25 Arizona-based culinary superstars, including Beau MacMillan, Christopher Gross and Maria Mazon, will join top NFL stars and a host of entertainment and sports celebrities to create a high-energy culinary experience with incredible food and spirits and other surprise moments throughout the evening.
GENYOUth’s End Student Hunger Fund has raised millions of dollars to help schools deliver and distribute meals to at-risk students but still has thousands of outstanding requests to fulfill from schools in need.
Event proceeds will directly benefit Phoenix schools and high needs school districts in 31 other NFL club markets across the country, providing meals to hundreds of thousands of students, particularly the 1 in 8 who suffer from food insecurity.
“We truly care about the public and about the clients who come here,” he says. “It’s not just another event that’s happening.”
Taste of the NFL
WHEN: 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, February 11
WHERE: Chateau Luxe, 1175 E. Lone Cactus Drive, Phoenix
COST: $750 general admission; $950 VIP admission
INFO: tasteofthenfl.com
