Marc Vetri Hosts Annual Great Chefs Event at Navy Yard

Maria Trofa and Tony Luke, Jr.

Elisabeth and Jim Maio

Chefs Christina Martin and Christopher James were helping out a lot of other chefs last night.

Ken and Jen Reed.

From left: Maria Beddia, David Katz and Scott Schroeder. Katz and Schroeder are doing a collaborative dinner at Hop Sing Laundromat this summer with Le, and it's going to be called Shorts & Flip-Flops (finally that gorgeous kitchen will get used.) Le is excited, and his main job is blocking photos from being taken.

From left: Gabriel Fredericks, Monica Brofman, chef Mike Picciau of Thomas Ristoranté and Dawn Fredericks.

From left: Doug Quint and his partner in life and ice cream, Bryan Petroff. They're the owners of Big Gay Ice Cream, which recently opened at Broad and South, right near the Lombard-South subway station. Last night's Big Gay Ice Cream flavor was Vanilla w/ salted Dulce de Leche and a vanilla wafer. (Get the recipe in the Big Gay Ice Cream Book.)

January Bartle and Stephen Starr.

From left: Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier of Arrows in Ogunquit, Maine, (since closed), served a delicious Maine Lobster Roll, and offered the dish without a roll for us low-carb people.

Chef Michael Schwartz of the Genuine Hospitality Group with his crispy beef tongue.

Vince Capitolo takes a photo of his girlfriend, Danielle Heeney, with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.

Sal and Barbara Vetri. One of the live auction items featured a chance to have chef Brad Spence, with an assist from Marc Vetri, cook dinner for the winner and nine of his friends in Spence's house. It sold for $14,000, to the delight of the crowd.

From left: Kate and James Braunstein, chef Patrick Boyle, Drew Braunstein, and Tina Elmer.

From left: Natalie and Ralph Hirshorn, chairman of the Hirshorn Company, and Weaver and Jamie Lilley, owners of the restaurant Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

From left: Bridget Miller, Caden Brown, chef Brad Daniels of Vetri's Osteria, Joan Daniels and Derek Miller .

Chef-owner Michael Solomonov served up my favorite dish of the year, sweetbreads. I'm going to have nightmares about this dish: that we will never meet again — that would break my heart.

From left: Liz Scott, co-executive director of the Alex's Lemonade Foundation; Alicia Vitarelli, 6ABC Action News; and Marc Vetri, co-founder of Vetri Foundation for Children.