Bravo's "top Chef" Contestant Tre To Appear Once Again With The Celebrity Chef Tour Benefiting The James Beard Foundation At The Columbia Tower Club

The Celebrity Chef Tour benefiting the James Beard Foundation is delighted to announce that Celebrity Chef Tre Wilcox, featured in the third season of Bravo's "Top Chef", will once again join the Tour to recreate the famed James Beard House dinners with Hosting Chef James Hassell at the Columbia Tower Club on Thursday, May 8th at 7pm.

The Tour, while harnessing the excitement and huge popular culture interest in all things food, benefits the James Beard Foundation, whose mission is to "celebrate, preserve and nurture America's culinary heritage and diversity in order to elevate the appreciation of our culinary excellence."

Mirroring the coveted Beard House dinners, for which the nation's top chefs come to prepare menus at the Foundation's invitation, the Celebrity Chef Tour features the greatest culinary artists, creating an elevated dining experience like no other.

As such, the Celebrity Chef Tour dinner at the Columbia Tower Club on May 8th promises to delight the palates of the most discriminating epicureans. Showcasing the talents of Celebrity Chef Tre Wilcox and Hosting Chef James Hassell, the evening will begin with an elegant reception, featuring unique hors d'oeuvres creations served with a complementary wine selection. An innovative, one-of-a-kind dinner will follow, throughout which Chefs Wilcox and Hassell will engage the audience and share their gastronomical insights in an intimate and exclusive setting, as guests enjoy several meticulously crafted courses paired with an assortment of carefully selected wines.

American Express, Yahoo!, Souverain, Certified Angus Beef, Renaissance Hotels and Hudson Valley Foie Gras are proud sponsors of the Celebrity Chef Tour benefiting the James Beard Foundation.

Tickets are available to the public for $175 (plus state sales tax) and can be purchased by contacting Jeff Black by telephone 720-201-1853 or by email jeff@innercirclecompanies.com. For more information, please visit our website at www.celebritycheftour.com.

Celebrity Chef Tre Wilcox

Tre Wilcox began his culinary career at the age of 17 when he started working at several fast food restaurants and landed a position at Eatzi's. Fluent in both English and Spanish, Wilcox worked his way up to a corporate trainer position and was sent all over the country to assist in opening five new outposts. The immersion in Eatzi's rigorous training meant focusing on organization, knife skills and team management.

Determined to fully explore the culinary world, Wilcox's career goals led him to his first foray into fine dining at David Holben's Toscana Restaurant. It was during this experience that his interest quickly turned into a true passion - just look at the tattoo down his forearm, which reminds him every day: "Gotta Have Passion." Wilcox found his way to Abacus under Kent Rathbun, who would polish his skills as a cook. Beginning as grill cook, Wilcox quickly moved up to Sous Chef and then to Executive Sous Chef in 2003, and most recently was promoted to Chef de Cuisine, a position in which he continues to refine his skills by creating precise and well-executed dishes.

In 2003, Tre worked with wine manager Matthew Scott to develop the menu for Dallas' KRLD Restaurant Week where he received the "Best Food and Wine Pairings" distinction. This recognition won him a scholarship for continuing his education at the Culinary Institute of America in Greystone, California. Today Wilcox is Abacus' self-confident Chef de Cuisine who's not afraid to discuss how corporate training for a national food chain shaped his skills as a leader. But his skills in the kitchen truly impress: every element on the plate is cooked to point-from the starring protein to the minutiae of th