On its own, a good meal is worth celebrating—but couple it with a good cause and our stomachs and our hearts are full. Starting next week, The Lido Bayside Grille at The Standard Spa, Miami Beach {40 Island Avenue, Miami Beach; 786.245.0880} is giving us a reason to indulge in both with its inaugural “Chefs Stand Up” series, a three-part event where chefs from New York City and Los Angeles will host sit-down dinners at Lido Lounge. The best part? There’s a feel-good element: 100% of the proceeds from each dinner will benefit a charity of the chef’s choice.
Kicking-off July 19 with Nina Clemente, of The Standard Plaza in NYC and The Smile’s Di Alba in LA, these three one-night only events won’t disappoint. The first dinner will raise money for No Kid Hungry, a campaign that connects children in need with nutritious food, teaches families how to cook healthy and affordable meals at home, and advocates an end to child hunger. Following that, Sara Kramer and Sarah Hymanson, both from Kismet in LA and both added to Food & Wine’s “Best New Chef 2017” list, will come to town on Wednesday, August 23, to benefit Planned Parenthood. Finally, on Thursday, September 21, Angela Dimayuga, a James Beard Rising Star Chef Nominee in 2016 who comes from Mission Chinese Food in NYC, will be in town; and she’s hosting a feast for the ages to benefit National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.
Of course, getting an all-star lineup like this was no accident. In fact, when the team at The Standard first came up with the idea, they deliberately sought out chefs they knew would aid their effort to make a difference in the world.  
“As a hotel group, one of our big themes this year is MOBILIZE.  For us, that means getting our message out there about the issues facing us that endanger our right to freedom and equality,” says Darryl Gibson, Regional Director of Programming & Culture for Standard Hotels. “We had several idea sharing sessions about doing a guest chef series, but in the end, we found ourselves asking what we were doing to make ours different than the series that other restaurants and hotels are doing. We wanted to make it special and impactful in a way that spoke to the core values of The Standard brand, and that led us back to our theme of MOBILIZE.”
Each installation of the Chefs Stand Up series will start with welcome cocktails from Moët & Chandon Champagne at 8 p.m., and follow with a sit-down dinner. Tickets for the July event are priced at $135 per person (including food, drinks, tax and gratuity), and the August and September dinners are priced at $95 each for the same. Tickets can be purchased here.
Happy dining!
By Jennifer Agress | Miami Editor