Upcoming Dinner Aims to Help Future Chefs

Many folks on the Grand Strand know Kevin Levine as the longtime executive chef at Scatori’s Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant in Myrtle Beach, where he has been working his culinary magic since the eatery opened in 2008.

Levine is also a huge proponent of social media, and has used the Instagram platform to build his business and professional network – so much so that he has hosted several Instagram chefs’ dinners over the years, bringing in colleagues from across the country.

He is also an entrepreneur, having launched a cutting board company called Hot Bloxx with wife and business partner Stephanie Ott earlier this year.

Levine worked for and was trained by the iconic chef Emeril Lagasse, and competed in the Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” on Easter Sunday.

But at 41, he is still paying off his student loans. He graduated from Johnson and Wales University in North Miami, Fla., in 1998.

In this light, Levine called on other chefs in his network to come together in Myrtle Beach – this time for a cause he started called Chefs United.

The result is an eight-course wine dinner and silent auction set to take place on January 16 at Scatori’s, called Chefs United for Future Chefs of America – and featuring the talents of nine chefs, including Levine, coming from as many points on the map.

The goal is to raise $25,000 to send an aspiring chef to culinary school.

“I wanted to bring chefs together to raise money to send someone to school who doesn’t have the opportunity to go for whatever the circumstance that might be for them – and they can’t afford to go to culinary school,” Levine said.

Levine reached out to other chefs via social media.

“I asked people if they were interested in coming together for this cause, and nine stepped forward – and there are so many more out there who wanted to come, but through timing, they couldn’t. Everybody that is a chef realizes that we are going to be retired one day – and we are going to be eating these kids’ food. We all need to eat, and they need to be taught,” he said.

The recipient of this financial assistance will be chosen based on an applicant’s essay.

“Basically – they need to write an essay about what it would mean for them to go to culinary school and how they will benefit from going – now and in the future,” he said.

So far, this is a grassroots effort, according to Levine.

“Right now, it’s not an organization, a scholarship fund or a nonprofit,” he said. “Do I want it to be? Yes – absolutely. If somebody wants to donate the help of forming an organization, I would love to have that help.”

Myrtle Beach resident Michael Kindt wrote one such essay for consideration.

Originally from Philadelphia, Kindt has been in Myrtle Beach for 8 years. He said his parents gave him up when he was very little and found him again when he was 7. His father died of cancer when he was 11.

Kindt, 23, was quick to point out that the last thing he wanted was to make people feel bad for him, so it was tough to write the essay.

Cooking is his livelihood, and he has done so at places like Coastal Carolina University and Marriott’s OceanWatch Villas at Grande Dunes.

“My motivation to cook came around the time my father died because my mom obviously went off the deep end for a little while. I started cooking for my little brother, and that’s when I fell in love with it – that’s where the passion comes from,” he said, adding that he has a particular love for sauté work.

Kindt has a fiancée and three small children and said college was never really an option to this point.

“Maybe there was the thought that when my kids got a little older I might go – but student debt is something I can’t do because I have children.”

The possibility of being sent to culinary school would clearly change his life.

“By getting something like that, my life would be drastically different as well as theirs. It’s not just about the piece of paper – it’s about the foundation and learning all of that stuff I missed because I started in the kitchen.”

The fact that Kindt can only go so far in a culinary career without a degree is not lost on him.

“I feel like I am missing the foundation of my passion – what I want to do – and it would improve all of our lives – my fiancée and my three babies. It would change all of our lives very positively,” he said.

Local attorney Dave Mason has already made reservations for the dinner. He said he found out about it through Marnie Kennedy at the Island Bar and Grill in Surfside Beach.

“It’s a great neighborhood bar, and they have tasting dinners from time to time. She sent me a link to this one and it looked interesting,” he said.

He considers himself a foodie.

“It’s a hobby that my wife [Kelly Mason] and I share. It is hard not to sound pretentious, but I do think that cooking, done right, can be as rewarding as a good book or a moving song.”

Mason feels that the Chefs United cause is a worthy one indeed.

“I wish there was more we could do to change the perception that trades are a backup for people who can’t go to college. Acting as an executive chef in a high-end restaurant is every bit as challenging and rewarding as my legal practice,” he said.

Chef Kurt Upton of The Fork & Barrel Restaurant in Corry, PA, met Levine through social media more than two years ago. He came to Myrtle Beach in August to compete in a cooking competition hosted by Levine and took third place.

“A few months before that, we had been connecting through conversation – and we have been like brothers ever since,” he said.

The seed was planted for the Chefs United dinner in August. At that time, Upton was looking forward to cooking with a chef who was slated to judge the event, Alix Farris of the Rustic Rooster Restaurant in Cuttingsville, Vermont. Farris was not able to attend then, but will be participating in the upcoming dinner.

Upton said he accrued a good amount of student debt to earn his culinary degree and understands that dynamic, but he has a wider vision for Chefs United.

“I hope our charity can blossom to go beyond just giving a scholarship every year or two. We’d like to say that we are going to help them out by mentoring – by motivating and just positive influence – and finally by bestowing scholarships,” he said.

He sees eventual opportunities for these young culinary students to intern at some of these participating restaurants across the country, and more.

“We want to be really involved, and not only by just, ‘here’s some money.’ We want to ensure that there could possibly be job opportunities in the end for somebody. I felt like I kind of never really had anybody that was willing to teach stuff. There were always chefs around, but nobody that was willing to say, ‘hey – if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, we have this group with a collective of information that will really help you grow as a young student.”

The inference here is that many chefs are thrown to the wolves, per se – without a nurturing process, or as Upton called it, “sink or swim.”

Upton sees Chefs United as something with the potential for real growth over the next few years.

“Kevin has the intention to move this dinner all around the country and then hopefully have more than one a year, so this could be the start of something that could turn into a really big national event – and we could love to say that it started in Myrtle Beach.”

For more information, call (843)650-3370.

This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Upcoming Dinner Aims to Help Future Chefs."