An uncommon World Festival

Some of Chicago’s and the world’s most notable chefs brought their culinary expertise together for Common Threads’ Fifth Annual “World Festival,” which took place recently at Soldier Field. Ingrid Hoffmann, Stephanie Izard, Nigella Lawson and Ming Tsai were among this year’s celebrity chefs who served up global gourmet cuisine to over 900 attendees, and Jakob Dylan sang at the exclusive after-party. The event netted $937,762 in support of the organization’s after-school programs that encompass nutritional/health education.

“At Common Threads, we teach low-income children to cook wholesome and affordable meals because we believe that through our hands-on cooking classes we can help prevent childhood obesity and reverse the trend of generations of non-cookers, while celebrating our cultural differences and the things people all over the world have in common,” said Art Smith, who started Common Threads with his partner, Jesus Salgueiro. “I am so proud at age 50 to have turned my health and life around. I am eating at home, making healthier choices and exercising—things we stress to our students and their families every day.” To stress his point about health, Smith held his birthday party later that night at David Barton Gym.

The preceding night, Feb. 28, Smith held an intimate, invitation-only, black-tie “Sunday Supper” at the James Hotel.

In honor of Smith’s birthday, Oprah Winfrey donated $250,000 to Common Threads. For more information on Common Threads, visit www.commonthreads.org.