Primavera wrapped up its 2024 Cooks! season after the final dinner at Charro Steak & del Rey on August 28 and a Wrap-Up event on September 26!
Eight events were held, raising funds for emergency housing for women. Here are a few other facts:
- Primavera Cooks! events were held at seven different venues this summer, including Studio Janos, Portal Cocktails, Feast, Kingfisher, Zio Peppe, Tavolino and Charro Steak & del Rey.
- Proceeds from the gastronomic adventure benefit Primavera’s housing and services for women.
- About two dozen “apprentice” chefs paid $250 each to work and learn alongside professional chefs at our venues.
- Primavera Cooks! sponsors included Tucson Electric Power, Lovitt & Touché, Desert Diamond Casino, Southwest Gas, Long Realty, Keller Legal Resources PLLC, Jeffrey and Sue Warren, Bashas’ Family of Stores, and State Farm.
Apprentice chef Cheryl Halek cooked at three venues this season.
“Being an avid home cook, I have always wanted to cook in a professional kitchen,” Halek said. “Given the opportunity to work and learn from the best chefs in Tucson and help our homeless population was so fulfilling. I really look forward to being an active participant again next year.”
Zio Peppe Chef Devon Sanner said he and Chef Mat Cable appreciated the opportunity to help some of Tucson’s most disadvantaged doing something they love to do.
“Food is a vehicle for gathering, sharing and community, and it’s also a way by which people express themselves. Food is our medium,” he said. “And we try to support the community by buying as much as we can from local producers.”
Funds raised from this year’s dining series will benefit participants like an 86-year-old woman who recently came to Primavera for help.
“That’s not that unusual,” Primavera CEO Tisha Tallman told diners. “We are seeing an increasing number of women in their 70s and 80s becoming homeless for the first time.”