An evening with Aarón Sánchez and Omaha's top chefs
You’re invited to join Food Bank for the Heartland on Thursday, February 19, for our 25th annual Celebrity Chef fundraiser at CHI Health Center! This unforgettable evening is more than just a celebration of culinary excellence—it’s an opportunity to provide nourishment for Heartland neighbors experiencing food insecurity. Our goal is to raise the equivalent of 2.8 million meals to help alleviate hunger across Nebraska and western Iowa.
To help us in this effort, we are excited to welcome renowned restaurateur, cookbook author, TV personality, and philanthropist Aarón Sánchez to Omaha as our 2026 Celebrity Chef!
Back by popular demand, the program will also feature our Culinary Cook-Off, highlighting some of Omaha’s finest chefs. This year’s talent includes Joel Hassanali—Chef Partner of Lucky Eleven Hospitality Group, consisting of Salted EDGE and PIVOT Prime, Ben Maides—Executive Chef and Owner of Au Courant, Culinary Director of Flagship Restaurant Group, and a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Midwest, and Paul and Jessica Urban—Chefs and Co-Owners of Block 16 and James Beard Award semifinalists for Best Chef: Midwest.
Matthew Brown, Advanced Sommelier and General Manager of V. Mertz, will once again serve as one of our judges. He’ll be joined by last year’s Culinary Cook-Off chefs, Tim Nicholson of Boiler Room, and David Utterback of Yoshitomo and Koji. Julie Cornell of KETV Newswatch 7 will also serve as our emcee for the evening.
We hope to see you there!
