The event’s honoree was veteran restaurateur Tony May, owner of SD26, who in his acceptance speech stressed the need for education of the kind given under C-CAP’s national not-for-profit’s mission of providing scholarships, education, and career opportunities in the culinary arts to underserved youth from schools in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Hampton Roads, Va., District of Columbia/Prince George’s County, Md, and statewide in Arizona. May talked about his own background in bringing his kind of Italian food to New York and stressed how important education has been to him and how much he thought it would mean for young people in the future.

As it turned out, a C-CAP spokesperson reported that this was the most successful benefit ever for the organization, with some $900,000 raised. In choosing to honor May, C-CAP was celebrating his long devotion to his profession.

“This year C-CAP is thrilled to honor Tony May for his remarkable achievements and contributions to the culinary industry and his commitment to nurturing the next generation of chefs,” said Richard Grausman, C-CAP’s Founder and Chairman. “Having Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman Jr. as Chairs of this event is a tribute to Tony’s outstanding career.”

May has been credited with setting a high standard for Italian food dining in a career that spanned 50 years, including owning the renowned Rainbow Room. In 1986 he opened Palio. His San Domenico NY, the flagship restaurant of the Tony May Group, garnered further praise. In 2009 May opened SD26, where he works side-by-side with his daughter Marisa May. Some of the country’s noted chefs began their careers with May, including Andrew Carmellini, Scott Conant, Odette Fada and Marc Vetri.

Past recipients of the C-CAP Honors Award include Michael McCarty, Michael Lomonaco, Marcus Samuelsson, Drew Nieporent, Alfred Portale, Lidia Bastianich, Thomas Keller, Charlie Palmer, Danny Meyer and Michael Romano, Daniel Boulud, Jacques Pepin, Egidiana and Sirio Maccioni, Nina and Tim Zagat, and Saul Zabar and Stanley Zabar.

CBS2 News Co-Anchor Maurice DuBois was the Master of Ceremonies. Cesar Gutierrez, a C-CAP alumnus and Sous Chef at Lexington Brass of the new EMM Group restaurants in New York City, was the C-CAP graduate speaker, who told of what C-CAP meant to him in getting started in a food career. The Chef Chair was Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster Harlem.

Susan Robbins, C-CAP’s President also spoke. “For more than 20 years, we have been transforming lives for thousands of qualified students across the country. We continue to manage the largest independent culinary scholarship program in the nation and, to date, have awarded over $37 million.”

One fund-raising feature was a silent auction, but a number of the special items available were auctioned off by the far-from-silent, colorful, fast-talking Bill McCuddy. On the block were a luxury trip (including first class airfare) to Positano to stay at Villa Tre Ville; a week-long stay (including first class airfare) at J.K. Place on the island of Capri; a jaunt through Rome, Florence and Capri, and a feast for 16 people cooked by Marcus Samuelsson in one’s home or in the private dining room at Ginny's Supper Club, and a wine tasting dinner prepared by Executive Chef Matteo Bergamini for 14 people at SD26. The bidding was brisk and I tallied a total of $69,000 taken in for these goodies. In addition, there was the money raised with all of the other auction offerings not under the McCuddy hammer.

I, of course, could do justice to only some of the tastings. One’s stomach could only hold so much of culinary riches available. Part of the pleasure was talking to some of the restaurateurs represented. For example, I chatted with Chadwick’s Restaurant Executive Chef Sean Quinn, who served delicious tuna tartare with caraway seed, lemon and micro-celery on homemade salt and vinegar potato chips. Maria Loi of the restaurant Loi was especially hospitable as I sampled her tasty Kourou cheese phyllo pies.

I got there early to beat the lines of the ever-popular Peking duck at the Shun Lee Palace table (Michael Tong). I enjoyed at the Oceana table (Ben Pollinger) the Alaska weathervane scallops with sesame, shoyu, shiso and pickled daikon. Strip House (Michael Vignola) offered tasty Wellington slider with New York strip, shitake, marmalade, foi gras, torchon and bone marrow mustard. Also pleasing was Porter House New York’s (Michael Lomonaco) dry-aged prime strip steak, roasted and sliced on a mini potato bun with roasted peppers and sweet onion jam.

Other treats I especially enjoyed were Red Rooster’s (Marcus Samuelsson) barbecued pork belly with fried green tomato and iceberg purée; Colicchio & Sons (Tom Colicchio and James Tracey) braised pork cheeks with perla bianco polenta and gremolata; L & W Oyster Co. (Jason Weiner and David Belknap) clam chowder with Brooklyn lager, house-cured pancetta and corn nuts; Ciano (Shea Gallante) roasted veal meatballs with cream polenta and truffle pecorino; Extra Virgin (Joseph Fortunato) smoked salmon wafer wth horseradish, crème fraîche, pickled onions; Union Square Café (Carmen Quagliata) maple butter braised winter roots with mustard sauce and crispy quinoa; SD26 (Matteo Bergamini) soft quail egg filled ravioli with truffled butter and parmigiano; Michael’s (Kyung Up Lim) mini bulgogi burgers; Sirio Ristorante (Filippo Gozzoli) risotto with fava beans, green peas and balsamic; Nobu 57 (Matt Hoyle) sautéed Natucket Bay scallops on a salad of baby spinach, yuzu, parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and dried miso; BLT Steak (Braden Reardon), dry aged strip loin, black trumpet mushrooms, hazelnuts, sauce bordelaise.

After all of that I still had to have room for desserts and there were some sumptuous ones. The buzz was on for a stop at The General table (Thiago Silva). The sticky coconut cake with mango sauce, braised pineapple, pistachios, shiso-lime syrup and coconut water sorbet was worthy of a prize. I also enjoyed the Modern’s (Marc Aumont) pistachio dacquoise with milk chocolate Chantilly and passion fruit ganâche. Other tasting standouts included Bistro Moderne’s (Ashley Brauze) grapefruit chocolate verrine; Gotham Bar and Grill’s (Ron Paprocki) coconut dacquoise with vanilla, mango and passion fruit crème, and North End Grill’s (Alexndra Ray) key lime cheesecake with blood orange, coconut and macadamia.

Wines and champagne wine were donated by The Charmer Sunbelt Group. And throughout the evening there was music by the David Grausman quartet. Sculptor Philip Grausman designed the trophy presented to Tony May.

The full list of chefs who participated in providing tastings for the benefit included:

Chef Chair: Marcus Samuelsson, Red Rooster Harlem

Philip DeMaiolo, Abigail Kirsch

Toni Robertson, Asiate at Mandarin Oriental

Jonathan Waxman, Barbuto

Philippe Bertineau, Benoit

Braden Reardon, BLT Steak

Sean Quinn, Chadwick’s Restaurant

Shea Gallante, Ciano

Tom Colicchio and James Tracey, Colicchio & Sons

Pastry Chef Ashley Brauze, db Bistro Moderne

John Fraser, Dovetail

Joseph Fortunato, Extra Virgin

Fortunato Nicotra, Felidia

Pastry Chef Thiago Silva, The General

Pastry Chef Ron Paprocki, Gotham Bar and Grill

Jason Weiner and David Belknap, L & W Oyster Co.

Gastón Acurio, La Mar

Marc Murphy, Landmarc

Chris Leahy, Lexington Brass

Maria Loi, Loi

Kyung Up Lim, Michael's New York

Pastry Chef Marc Aumont, The Modern

Matthew Hoyle, Nobu 57

Pastry Chef Alex Ray, North End Grill

Ben Pollinger, Oceana

Pastry Chef Alfred Stephens, Olives

Kevin Lasko, Park Avenue Winter

Michael Lomonaco, Porter House New York

Pastry Chef Sarabeth Levine, Sarabeth's

Scott Conant, Scarpetta

Matteo Bergamini, SD26

Yuhi Fujinaga, The Sea Grill

Michael Tong, Shun Lee Palace

Filippo Gozzoli, Sirio Ristorante

Michael Vignola, Strip House

William Telepan, Telepan

Kelvin Fernandez, The Strand, American Bistro

Mario Carbone and Richard Torrisi, Torrisi Italian Specialties

Carmen Quagliata, Union Square Café

I would see May quite frequently back in the days when he was owner and manager of the Rainbow Room and also of the Rainbow Grill, when that room was rich in entertainment along with the food selection. One night one might thrill to the music of Duke Ellington, and on another one could laugh at the comedy of Sid Caesar. Those were the heady nightspot entertainment days.

May has since gone onto other achievements in the restaurant world, and he stands firmly among those whom C-CAP has celebrated over the years. He is an excellent and timely choice for this year’s honor. May has worked diligently for five decades to elevate the image of Italian cuisine in America, and has set a high standard for Italian dining. In 1986, he opened Palio, and subsequently San Domenico NY, the flagship restaurant of the Tony May Group. Currently he is proprietor of SD26, where he works side-by-side with his daughter Marisa May.

Chairs for the event are Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman Jr. and the Chef Chair is Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster Harlem. The Vice Chairs are Kim and Michael McCarty and Susan and Richard Grausman. CBS2 News Co-Anchor Maurice DuBois will be the Master of Ceremonies.

“This year C-CAP is thrilled to honor Tony May for his remarkable achievements and contributions to the culinary industry and his commitment to nurturing the next generation of chefs,” said Richard Grausman, C-CAP’s Founder and Chairman. “Having Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman Jr. as Chairs of this event is a tribute to Tony’s outstanding career.”

Past recipients of the C-CAP Honors Award include: Michael McCarty, Michael Lomonaco, Marcus Samuelsson, Drew Nieporent, Alfred Portale, Lidia Bastianich, Thomas Keller, Charlie Palmer, Danny Meyer & Michael Romano, Daniel Boulud, Jacques Pepin, Egidiana & Sirio Maccioni, Nina & Tim Zagat and Saul Zabar and Stanley Zabar.

The major lure for C-CAP supporters, apart from the satisfaction of helping its program, is the chance for an evening of culinary treats. Each time I go the personal challenge is to sample as much as possible of what chefs have made available on the rows of tables one navigates. It presents a formidable task of making choices.

More than 40 of the city’s chefs will be represented. And what would a tasting be without wine? Wines are being donated by The Charmer Sunbelt Group. More than 60 New York City C-CAP high school culinary students are expected to assist the chefs. The evening’s festivities will also include a silent auction of culinary and travel packages.

“The grand walk-around tasting event raises funds to support C-CAP’s mission of providing scholarships, education, and career opportunities in the culinary arts to at-risk youth who are interested in pursuing careers in the restaurant and foodservice industry,” said Susan Robbins, C-CAP’s President. “For more than 20 years we have been transforming lives for thousands of qualified students across the country. We continue to manage the largest independent culinary scholarship program in the nation and, to date, have awarded over $37 million.”

This year’s participating chefs include:

Chef Chair: Marcus Samuelsson, Red Rooster Harlem; Philip DeMaiolo, Abigail Kirsch; Toni Robertson, Asiate at Mandarin Oriental; Jonathan Waxman, Barbuto; Philippe Bertineau, Benoit; Braden Reardon, BLT Steak; Sean Quinn, Chadwick’s Restaurant; Shea Gallante, Ciano; Tom Colicchio and James Tracey, Colicchio & Sons; Pastry Chef Ashley Brauze, db Bistro Moderne; John Fraser, Dovetail; Joseph Fortunato, Extra Virgin; Fortunato Nicotra, Felidia; Pastry Chef Thiago Silva, The General; Pastry Chef Ron Paprocki, Gotham Bar and Grill; Marc Murphy, Landmarc; Chris Leahy, Lexington Brass; Jason Weiner and David Belknap, L & W Oyster Co.; Gastón Acurio and Victoriano López, La Mar; Maria Loi, Loi; Kyung Up Lim; Michael's New York; Pastry Chef Marc Aumont, The Modern; Masaharu Morimoto, Morimoto; Matthew Hoyle, Nobu 57; Pastry Chef Alex Ray, North End Grill; Ben Pollinger, Oceana; Pastry Chef Alfred Stephens, Olives.

Also: Kevin Lasko, Park Avenue Winter; Michael Lomonaco, Porter House New York; Pastry Chef Sarabeth Levine, Sarabeth's; Scott Conant, Scarpetta; Matteo Bergamini, SD26. Yuhi Fujinaga, The Sea Grill; Michael Tong, Shun Lee Palace; Filippo Gozzoli, Sirio Ristorante; Kelvin Fernandez, The Strand, American Bistro; Michael Vignola, Strip House; William Telepan, Telepan; Mario Carbone and Richard Torrisi, Torrisi Italian Specialties; Carmen Quagliata, Union Square Café and Wylie Dufresne, wd~50.

To give you an idea of the kind of cuisine tasting offered:

Asiate at Mandarin Oriental (Toni Robertson) will offer soba noodles, trout roe and uni cream; Barbuto (Jonathan Waxman), gnocchi with walnut pesto and budino; Db Bistro Moderne (Ashley Brauze), grapefruit chocolate verrine, layered with grapefruit vanilla diplomat, dark chocolate crémeux, chocolate pain de gênes and Campari-poached grapefruit; Nobu 57 (Matt Hoyle), sautéed Nantucket bay scallops on a salad of baby spinach, yuzu, parmesan, extra virgin olive oil and dried miso; North End Grill (Alexandra Ray), key lime cheesecake with sour cream gelée, blood orange and coconut-lime fluid gels, macademia toffee powder and shards; SD26 (Matteo Bergamini) soft quail egg--filled raviolo with truffled butter and parmigiano, and Torrisi Italian Specialties (Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi) duck terrine with mulberry mustard.

Some very elaborate opportunities highlight C-CAP’s silent auction fund-raising. Attendees will be able to bid on, for example, a one-week trip for two (including first class airfare, to Ville Tre Ville in Positano, Italy; a one week stay (round-trip business class air fare included) at J.K. Place, Island of Capri; A trip for two (round-trip air included) to Rome, Florence and Capri; Dinner for 16 people at one’s home or at Ginny’s Supper Club prepared by renowned chef and restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson, and a dinner and wine tasting for 12 at Tony May’s SD26.

Tickets for general admission are $550; VIP tickets are $700 and $1,000, and are available for purchase by calling 212-974-7111 or at www.ccapinc.org, where additional information abut the organization can also be obtained.

Probably a bit of both, Christian Marclay’s unusual video instillation showing at Lincoln Center’s David Rubinstein Atrium (July 13-August 1) during the 2012 Lincoln Center Festival is an event you can set your watch by. It’s a film buff's dream, an opportunity to test one’s knowledge of movies while an avalanche of clips rush by in real time.

Here’s how it works. When you sit down to see the video spectacle, look at your watch, assuming it is the right time. At that very moment on the screen will be a scene from a film in which a clock or watch is visible. The time on that timepiece will match the time of the moment. More clips will be in the same minute until the next minute, which will bring further clips for that minute. And so it goes in a 24-hour cycle, minute by minute.

Every film clip edited into the whole has a timepiece in view in some manner, and one can see the vast research that Marclay had to undertake to find enough clips for his purpose. Some 10,000 clips were reportedly used. The result demonstrates what a huge role keeping time plays in our lives. In these various bits of film culled, there may just be a clock visible but there are often events depicted geared to time, whether it be an explosion or Susan Hayward as condemned Barbara Graham waiting in a death chamber for the cyanide to drop. One of the time keepers that appears frequently is London’s Big Ben.

The Atrium showings—the Atrium is located at Broadway between 62nd and 63rd Streets—run from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, and starting Fridays at 8 a.m., it runs continuously—insomniacs take note—around the clock until Sundays at 10 p.m. The show is closed Mondays.

Marclay is an artist renowned for his work in various media, including sculpture, photography, collage, painting and performance art. His use of film, for example, was reflected in his 1995 video “Telephones,” which was built with scenes involving phone conversations. He has performed and recorded music. His work has been widely shown internationally. “The Clock” was first screened in London in October, 2010 at the White Cube Gallery. Its U.S. premiere in New York last year was at the Paula Cooper Gallery in January and February.

My own experience was to go in the morning on opening day. While recognizing various films and not being able to recall others, I had the most fun seeing the great assortment of performers cascading by, including Marlon Brando, Sophia Lauren, Michael Caine, David Niven, Al Pacino, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Peter Falk, Jack Lemmon, James Cagney, Jodi Foster, and the aforementioned Susan Hayward, to name merely a few.

I got a kick out of the ingenious way Marclay used time, often building suspense by his editing. He probably holds the record for the number of film clips used in one extended video. Of course, once a viewer gets the point of matching them to real time, the project can start to become tiresome. But there is always some intriguing scene flashed that recalls a favorite film or performer and one’s interest is stirred anew. I wonder how many viewers will endure a 24-hour cycle over the weekend.

One can enter for just a short time, but no matter what time it is on your watch, it will be the same time on screen—that is if your watch is correct. If not, you can reliably adjust it.

Also present along with Allen were Penélope Cruz, Ellen Page, Greta Gerwig and Alessandra Mastronardi. They sat patiently while critics and journalists present directed their questions to Allen, who was, for example, asked why he was getting back to acting by taking a role in the film. In “To Rome With Love” he plays a retired opera director.

“I always liked to act,” he said, “and when I write a script, if there is a part I can play, I do it.” He noted that he had been performing for years and was open to acting in other people’s films, but isn’t often asked.

He was questioned as to whether he could say why “Midnight in Paris” was such a success. Allen said he had no idea why. ”It’s a complete mystery to me,” he asserted, citing other films that he thinks “have the same appeal, or lack of appeal.” The questioner had referred to the film as his greatest success. Allen made the point of saying it was the greatest financial success, apparently meaning that others could have been more artistically successful.

Allen has a way of colorfully describing his moviemaking. He noted, for example, that he always starts out to make the best film that he can, a “Citizen Kane.” “But then you get into the editing room and you realize that you screwed up.” He said the editing process becomes “the floundering of a drowning man.” He described desperately shifting everything around every which way.

He was asked what the most ridiculous question ever posed to him was. He replied that when he does the red carpet thing he is asked: “’Is Scarlett Johansson your muse? Is Penélope Cruz your muse?’” He mocked the very idea of needing a muse, and added that were millions of questions that are “really, really stupid.”

With respect to getting ideas for his films, he said he liked to write down little notes that occur to him and at the end of a year he looks at them and maybe one suggests an idea for a film.

When cast members finally got their turn, they were uniformly complimentary to Allen, who at one pint said, “You are embarrassing me.” Baldwin said that even lesser Allen films were better than most films of others.

Penélope Cruz not only said how much she enjoyed working with Allen, whom she called “fascinating,” but noted that being in a film had another plus. “I’m lucky to get to spend time with him.”

Ellen Page, joining in the praise for Allen, remarked that she enjoyed he opportunity to be in “To Rome With Love,” because the experience “was different from what I had done.”

Greta Gerwig talked about the influence Wood Allen’s movies have had on her, noting that she lives in New York as a result of seeing his films. She stressed, “I wouldn’t be an actress if it weren’t for his movies.”

Alessandra Mastronardi lauded the process of working with Allen: “After the first day you really feel that he trusts you, and you are free to do everything you want.”

A presentation of this sort requires a strong leading lady, and this one was fortunate to have reading the role of Curie the excellent Angelica Page, currently playing on Broadway in the revival of “The Best Man.”

Page began in an understated fashion, but gradually conveyed Curie’s mixed feelings of love and pain in relation to the relationship with Paul Langevin, a married man with children, played appealingly by Jack Cutmore-Scott. They fall deeply in love, but he won’t leave his wife despite her urging, and the discovery of their love letters leads to a pubic scandal in France to the point of threats against her life.

According to the play, it also leads to a strong position by Curie, who, when the Nobel Prize committee demands that she not go to Sweden to accept in person her second Nobel award because of the scandal, writes a strong letter informing the committee that private life has nothing to do with achievements in science and that she was coming to collect what was due her. It is a proud statement of principle and a blow in behalf of women trying to achieve accomplishments in their own right.

I will leave the experts on Curie to deal with how accurate Lauro has been in the writing. But as theater the reading shows the potential for strong drama with the work a possibility for a full production.

Other members of the effective cast included Hannah Timmons giving a stalwart performance as Curie’s niece, Larry Block as the chief paymaster of the Sorbonne, Timothy Doyle as a professor, and Con Horgan as Lord Kelvin. Playwright Lauro was in the audience.

An opening montage of visual clips was a litmus test for those in the audience to react to Chenoweth performances they knew best, as evidenced by applause of recognition. Her resumé thus firmly established, she then walked on stage to the expected standing ovation. And that was before she even had sung a note.

Chenoweth quickly delivered. She performed a cutesy dance number accompanied by Tyler Hanes and Will Taylor in a cowboy-looking mode. They and Chelsea Packard assisted at assorted points throughout, including a puppet routine geared to the show “Avenue Q.”

Chenoweth’s method in the touring concert, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, with Hanes doing the choreography and Mary-Mitchel Campbell handling arrangements and musical direction, is to mix her audience-friendly chatter of comic lines and anecdotes with a wide array of songs. Her choices tap into the familiarity with the shows for which she is known. The program is also partly geared to her new album “Some Lessons Learned.”

She reaches emotional heights with such choices as “Maybe This Time,” “All the Things You Are,” “Bring Him Home.” and “I Will Always Love You.” Her sense of fun emerges when she playfully indulges in different languages performing “Popular,” with which she is identified, thanks to being renowned for “Wicked.” There is delicacy in her rendering of “Hard Times Come Again No More,” a not very well known 19th century song by Stephen Foster.

Chenoworth’s acting and musical comedy gifts merge as she slumps through “I’m Tired,” in a mock Marlene Dietrich style. Of course, Chenoweth also demonstrates her glittering voice time and again as it reaches high on the scale. Nothing is better suited to the purpose then her wildly performed “Glitter and Be Gay” from “Candide.” I had seen her do his before in a concert staging of “Candide.” Here she has her two male assistants serve her an array of jewelry that she accumulates as props while her voice dazzles reaching for the heights and she triumphantly swings around a necklace of gems. It is a showpiece guaranteed to impress, and justly so.

The star uses a film clip of Dolly Parton to seemingly hold a conversation with her. It’s a slick bit, but it doesn’t serve much purpose other than to point to the possibility of her playing Parton one day. There are also gambits in the show that may do better with audiences than with critics. Her assistants at one point charge into the aisles trying to whip the audience into a spirit of joining in. Chenoweth also appeared to get quite emotional at one point in talking about causes and topics that mean much to her. The effect can be cloying, but she connects with her audience.

The colorful star Renée Fleming will be the attraction in Handel’s “Rodelinda,” on Sunday, April 22, at noon on PBS Stations. In New York, THIRTEEN will premiere it earlier, Thursday, April 19 at 8:30 p.m. If you miss that—or perhaps you would like to see it twice—it will also be broadcast on THIRTEEN on April 22 at 12:30 p.m. (Local listings should always be checked.)

Other cast members in the opera include Andreas Scholl, Stephanie Blythe, Iestyn Davies and Joseph Kaiser. The production is by Stephen Wadsmorth, with the musical conductor Harry Bicket.

Dr. Suh, known as the first woman in the world to record the entire works of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, has survived stage four breast cancer, after being diagnosed in 2006. Her own experience convinced her of the need for greater support in conbatting the illness, especially among women of South Korea.

The slogan for the recital is “Hope for Breast Cancer, Let’s Stick Together.”

Dr. Suh will be performing various compositions from her repertoire of Beethoven, Schubert, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Brahms and others. A special attraction of her recital will be the premiere of “The Four Songs of R. Franz,” by composer Lowell Liebermann, an original composition written especially for her.

Appetizers:

L’Artiste Apple Walnut Roquefort Salad

Octavia Spencer Onion Soup

Pate de Christopher Plummer

Salade Maison Jean Dujardin

Entrees:

Mushroom Midnight in Paris Ravioli

Scorsese Seafood Crepe

Moneyball Moules Frites

The Descendants Duck with Risotto (extra $4)

Desserts

Hugo Hazelnut Praline Mousse

Incredibly Close Creme Brulee

There was the customary generous participation by chefs of leading restaurants to serve samplings of their dishes to the more than 800 guests filing up and down the aisles of tables, diets ignored to have a gourmet experience. That is always the main attraction. This year there was the additional attraction of star Bette Midler. She and her husband Martin von Haselberg served as honorary chairs.

Midler, in introducing McCarty, whose popular Michael’s restaurants in New York and Santa Monica, California, helped set new trends in serving American cuisine, called him “the greatest host in the world.” She referred to Michael’s New York as the place “where the beautiful people gather every day for a Michael’s fix.”

She also had the distinction of being able to squelch the inevitable buzz of chatter in the far reaches of the room when the proceedings are underway on the speakers’ platform. The always unpredictable Midler shouted into the microphone to the amused crowd: “Shut the f--- up!” After the laughter, it was indeed quieter.

The master of ceremonies was CBS2 News co-anchor Kristine Johnson. As an example of what C-CAP accomplishes, Sylva Senat, a C-CAP alumnus told how much the program has meant to him in leading to his food career and his current position as Executive Chef of Tashan, the Indian fusion restaurant in Philadelphia.

Other speakers included McCarty, who enthusiastically praised what C-CAP does, Richard Grausman, its founder and chairman, who presented McCarty with “The Bean” the trophy designed by sculptor Philip Grausman and Susan Robbins, recently named president of C-CAP. There was also the opportunity to meet Wilma Stephenson and Fatoumata Dembele, key figures in the Emmy-nominated documentary “Pressure Cooker,” directed by Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker and demonstrating how the C-CAP program improved the lives of students in a Philadelphia school. The evening's entertainment consisted of music by the David Grausman Quartet.

The chef chair was restaurateur and chef Marcus Samuelsson, whose most recent New York restaurant is Red Rooster. The vice-chairs for the event were Nina and Tim Zagat and Susan and Richard Grausman.

As for the food binge, I did my best to sample as much as I could, but it would have been too daunting to cover everything. I particularly enjoyed Bar Basque’s txakoll braised pork belly and morcilla stuffed lamb; Asiate’s quinoa crusted sea scallop, onion marmalade with grapefruit butter sauce; Benoit's beef short ribs parmentier; the black truffle croquette of Park Avenue Winter; the salmon tataki witth yuzo soy sauce and garlic of Nobu 57; the spicy Korean tacos-kalbi braised short rib and bay scallops with bacon and watercress of Michael’s; duck steak with warm black and blueberry compote and mixed grain salad of New Leaf Restaurant and Bar; Moroccan lamb meatballs with salsa verde of Almond; braised short ribs of beef with anson mills cheese grits of Porter House New York, tuna tartar cones with avocado mousse and pomegranate from Extra Virgin; mussel soup with chorizo, curry and citrus from Aldea; baby rack of lamb from Beacon; Oceana’s wild Alaskan king salmon a la plancha with meyer lemon jam and radish salad; and among desserts, Sarabeth’s triple-chocolate, chocolate pudding with chocolate cherry butter cookies and The Modern’s assortment of petit fours, lollipops and chocolate.

Forgive me if I had to stop and missed other such appetite-wetting samplings as tortellini en brodo from Union Square Café; SHO-Shaun Hergatt’s hot celery root and truffle and panna cotta; Southgate’s clams, mustard greens, bacon and pasta; Telepan’s smoked trout with potato bellini and sweet onion sour cream; Shun Lee Palace’s famed Peking duck; Felidia’s beet salad with pickled cranberries and local cheeses, Dovetail’s gnocchi and mushrooms; BLT Steak’s New York strip stake-creamed basil and anchovy bone marrow butter; Gotham Bar and Grill’s Maine lobster agnolloti, smoked mushrooms-xerez butter emulsion; Barbuto’s crudi salad—Brussels sprouts, baby carrots, radishes and pecorino cheese; Red Rooster’s hominy risotto with smoked mackerel and lemon confit; snake river kurobuta pork belly with hazelnut butter of Michael’s; Loi’s baklava, kibo’s lobster salad with black quinoa, celery root and preserved lemon; Daniel’s pistachio dacquoise with fresh raspberries and vanilla cream; Dörk Chocolate’s chocolate truffles; Catch’s goat cheesecake, roasted black grapes; Abigail Kirsch’s tiramisu paired with salad; The Strand American Bistro’s seared scallop and braised smoked bork belly—mascarpone polenta; A Voce Columbus’s creamy mozzarella with tomato conserva, fennel and herbs; Blue Hill/ Blue Hill at Stone Barns’ carrot soup with buttermilk panna cotta, carrot crackers and pine nuts; Colicchio & Sons’ potato bavarois, hackleback caviar and vodka cream and SD26’s soft quail egg filled raviolo with truffled butter and parmagiano.

Participating chefs included:

Chef Chair: Marcus Samuelsson, Red Rooster;

Missy Robbins: A Voce Columbus

Philip DeMaiolo, Abigail Kirsch Pier Sixty

George Mendes, Aldea

Jason Weiner, Almond

Toni Robertson, Asiate

Yuhi Fujinaga, Bar Basque

Jonathan Waxman, Barbuto

Waldy Malouf, Beacon

Philippe Bertineau, Benoit

Clifford Crooks, BLT Steak

Dan Barber, Blue Hill/ Blue Hill at Stone Barns

Pastry chef Thiago Silva, Catch

Tom Colicchio, Colicchio & Sons

Daniel Boulud and Sandro Micheli, Daniel

John Fraser, Dovetail

Joey Fortunato, Extra Virgin

Fortunato Nicotra, Felidia

Alfred Portale, Gotham Bar & Grill Ayumu Matsuda, kibo

Maria Loi, Loi Restaurant NYC

Kyung Up Lim, Michael’s

Pastry chef Marc Aumont, The Modern

Scott Campbell, New Leaf Restaurant & Bar

Matt Hoyle, Nobu Fifty Seven

Ben Pollinger, Oceana

Kevin Lasko, Park Avenue Winter

Michael Lomonaco, Porter House New York

Matteo Bergamini, SD26

Pastry chef Sarabeth Levine, Sarabeth's

Shaun Hergatt, SHO – Shaun Hergatt

Michael Tong, Shun Lee Palace

Kerry Heffernan, Southgate

Kelvin Fernandez, The Strand American Bistro

William Telepan, Telepan

Carmen Quagliata, Union Square Cafe

In addition, participating C-CAP graduate chefs included Mehdi Chellaoui, founder and chocolatier at Dörk Chocolate.

Wines were donated by The Charmer Sunbelt Group. More than 60 New York City C-CAP high school culinary students assisted the chefs. The evening’s program also included a silent auction of culinary and travel packages.

Past recipients of the C-CAP Honors Award include Michael Lomonaco, Marcus Samuelsson, Drew Nieporent, Alfred Portale, Lidia Bastianich, Thomas Keller, Charlie Palmer, Danny Meyer and Michael Romano, Daniel Boulud, Jacques Pepin, Egidiana and Sirio Maccioni, Nina and Tim Zagat and Saul Zabar and Stanley Zabar.