Heirloom MKE Plans Upscale Dinner By Top Chef to Help the Hungry
Five-course Bay View event elevates modest ingredients while aiding a local food nonprofit.
Heirloom MKE, 2378 S. Howell Ave. Photo taken Aug. 14, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.
Who decided humble ingredients don’t belong in fine dining? What happens when you elevate unpretentious foods toward unexpected elegance?
These are questions that inspired EBT & Fine China, a one-night-only, five-course dinner hosted by Heirloom MKE, a Milwaukee restaurant that champions locally sourced, scratch-made dishes, and Chef Q. Ibraheem, a nationally recognized fine-dining chef, artist and educator.
The dinner will take place at Heirloom MKE, 2378 S. Howell Ave., on Nov. 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. Its upscale dishes will be made with ingredients that are typically associated with necessity, rather than opulence.
“It’s about how you can turn the foods that are available to you, foods that you have access to, into beautiful and amazing dishes found in fine dining,” Heirloom MKE co-owner Jess Ignatiev said in an interview with Urban Milwaukee. “It’s about getting the conversation going about the basis of fine dining, the biases behind it, and getting people interested in taking action on food insecurity.”
The dinner’s name, EBT & Fine China, is an ode to that mission. Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is the system that allows Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants to pay for essential food using SNAP benefits. Ignatiev said foods that people purchase at local pantries and corner stores using EBT will be prepared and displayed in a way that shows fine dining doesn’t need to rely on expensive, hard-to-access ingredients. One of the dishes she is planning to serve is based on canned corn.
Tickets are on sale for $140 per person. Signature cocktails and wine pairings will also be available. Five dollars from every ticket sold will benefit Resources & Beyond, a Milwaukee-area nonprofit that supports underserved families facing food insecurity.
“We’re going to have hard conversations, but in a fun atmosphere where we can be together as a community,” Ignatiev said.
Heirloom MKE opened in Bay View in 2023 and is owned by Ignatiev and her husband, Pete. The couple has known Chef Q. Ibraheem since 2020. EBT & Fine China is the long-awaited realization of their shared values and desire to address food inequities.
Learn more about Chef Q. Ibraheem on her website.
Read past Heirloom MKE coverage on Urban Milwaukee.
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