Lawyers, businesses, chefs, celebrities, and many others joined together at the 17th Silk Road Gala to support the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence on October 23, 2010. Tickets to the Silk Road Gala were sold out and had 500 guests in attendance. The successful event was able to raise over $400,000. The night entailed entertainment, scrumptious cuisines, live and silent auctions, and inspirational speeches.
Among the celebrity chefs was Ming Tsai, host of Simply Ming. Ming is currently in the running to be the Next Iron Chef on the Food Network. Appropriately, Ming hosted ATASK’s own rendition of Iron Chef and was able to keep the audience stifled with laughter. On one team was Jody Adams, chef and owner of Rialto, and Michael Schlow, chef and co-owner of Via Matta, Radius, and Alta Strada. On the other team was Patricia Yeo, executive chef of Ginger Park, and Jasper White, chef and owner of Summer Shack. Judging the competition was Mayor Thomas Menino, Peter Zane, Emily Ma, and Louisa Kasdon. The contestants were given 15 minutes to prepare 1 dish each, 2 dishes per team. With a 9 point lead, the winning team was team Jody Adams and Michael Schlow.
Also present was Diane Patrick, First Lady of Massachusetts, who was the keynote speaker of the night. According to Patrick, “the work that ATASK has done has been spectacular.” Throughout her speech, Patrick had nothing but praises for ATASK. In addition, Patrick presented ATASK a proclamation from Governor Deval Patrick to commend ATASK for all the work that they have done.
Other notable attendees were Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston Red Sox pitcher, Janet Wu, reporter for Channel 5, Grace Lin, children’s book author, and Jennifer 8. Lee, author of the Fortune Cookie Chronicles.
ATASK provides support to Asians who suffered from domestic violence in New England. Services include an emergency shelter, 24-hour helpline, programs and services for empowerment, education and training. Moreover, ATASK is the only organization in New England to provide multi-lingual and cultural services for domestic violence.
For more information, please visit www.atask.org.
Diana Li is a Sampan correspondent.
