An all-star lineup of chefs will be serving up a special fundraising dinner in Raleigh to benefit Share Our Strength's No Kid Hungry campaign to end childhood hunger.

The chefs include: John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, MI; Alon Shaya of Domenica in New Orleans; Ryan Smith of Empire State South in Atlanta; Tandy Wilson of City House in Nashville; Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill and Anthony Guerra of Bella Mia in Cary.

Chef Ashley Christensen is hosting the event at her restaurant, Poole's Diner, in Raleigh at 6 p.m. July 23. Diners can pay $3,000 for a table of 10, $1,000 for a table of four or $175 for an individual reservation.

To purchase tickets, go to http://ce.strength.org/events/no-kid-hungry-dinner-raleigh.

To learn more about Share Our Strength, go to http://www.strength.org/.
 

Just in case, this restaurant opening flew under the radar, chef Ashley Christensen's burger joint called Chuck's opened last Thursday. I went there for lunch Monday and the crowd was sort of sparse.

Chuck's is one of the three enterprises Christensen of Poole's Diner opened at 237 S.  Wilmington Street: a fried chicken restaurant called Beasley's Chicken + Honey and a basement bar called Fox Liquor Bar.

If you like a thick, juicy hamburger, then you'll probably be a fan of this place. The burgers (half-pound, house-ground 100% chuck meat on a potato roll) cost $9 a piece and a half-pound of Belgian fries cost $4. One word of advice: the burgers are so big, you should split the fries with two or more people depending upon how hungry you are.

The hours for Chuck's are 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday, 11:30 a.m.-midnight, Thursday-Saturday. (The same hours as Beasley's.)

I've uploaded a copy of the menu below.

Documents:

Wild foods expert Hank Shaw is coming to Raleigh on a tour to promote his new book, "Hunt Gather Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast."

Shaw, the James Beard Foundation award-nominated blogger, will be the guest of honor at a four-course dinner at Raleigh's Poole's Diner on Tuesday, Sept. 13. The cost is $45. Diners may get to enjoy Shaw's catch from a fishing trip out of Wanchese, N.C. a few days before the dinner. For a reservation, call 832-4477.

His blog called Hunter Angler Gardener Cook has twice been nominated for a James Beard award and won an IACP award for best blog.

I'll share an interview with Shaw in next Wednesday's food section.

UPDATE: Word is they open at 5 pm TODAY, Tuesday, Aug. 16th.

Chef Ashley Christensen of Raleigh's Poole's Diner plans to open her latest restaurant this week. At an invite-only event Friday at Beasley's Chicken + Honey, Christensen said she planned to open as early as TOMORROW, Tuesday, Aug. 16. So you might want to swing by the corner of South Wilmington and East Martin streets in downtown Raleigh to see if that has come true. (Disclaimer: Restaurant openings can be delayed. So be patient.)

Christensen added that she hoped to open Chuck's, the burger joint next door, about two weeks later and Fox Liquor Bar, the basement bar, during the weekend of the Hopscotch Music Festival from Sept. 8-11.

I attended Friday's menu tasting event. The fried chicken was moist and juicy. The macaroni-and-cheese was divine. It reminded me of potatoes Dauphinoise. There also was fresh sliced tomatoes, delicious collards and potato salad. Although I couldn't taste them, the desserts looked interesting. I'm so ready to go back again.

[Ethical disclaimer: The N&O requires me to pay for my food. I cannot accept free food at restaurants. So my technique when chefs I know send out free food and with this buffet of free food is to add money to the tip. We were charged a little more than $6 for my husband's beer and my tea. I added a $20 tip.]

There are still seats available for chef Ashley Christensen's Stir the Pot dinner at Poole's Diner, featuring guest chef Ed Lee of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky.

At 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Christensen and Lee will cook a multi-course dinner at her restaurant, Poole's Diner. Tickets cost $150. Call 832-4477 for a reservation.

Proceeds benefit the Southern Foodways Alliance, a nonprofit based at the University of Mississippi that documents and celebrates Southern food traditions.

The next Stir the Pot events include:

• Sept. 18 and 19, chef John Fleer, formerly of The Inn at Blackberry Farm, now of Canyon Kitchen in the North Carolina mountains.

• Jan. 29 and 30, chef Chris Hastings of the Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Ala.

• May 20 and 21, chef Steven Satterfield of Miller Union in Atlanta.

For more details about the events, go to www.stirthepotluck.com.
 

I share readers' tips and recipes for cooking on a hot summer day.

I talk to chef Ashley Christensen about what it was like behind the scenes at Iron Chef America.

Suzanne Havala Hobbs' On the Table column is about coconut milk.

Linda Gassenheimer's Quick Fix column is about jerk seasoning adding spice to dinner.

Kathleen Purvis answers your cooking questions: this time about raspberry cordial that gelled. Go HERE to read her answer. If you want a cooking question answered, send those queries to kpurvis@charlotteobserver.com.

We also share a Newsday story about how to make compound butter for your grilled steaks.

There are less than two weeks left to make reservations for chef Ashley Christensen's next Stir the Pot events, featuring guest chef Ed lee of  610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky.

At 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14, Christensen and Lee will cook a multi-course dinner at her restaurant, Poole's Diner. Tickets cost $150. The next night, she hosts an industry potluck at her Raleigh home. Tickets have cost about $35. Call 832-4477 for a reservation to either event.

Proceeds benefit the Southern Foodways Alliance, a nonprofit based at the University of Mississippi that documents and celebrates Southern food traditions.

UPDATE: The next Stir the Pot events will be: 

• Sept. 18 and 19, Chef John Fleer, formerly of The Inn at Blackberry Farm, now of Canyon Kitchen in the North Carolina mountains.
• Jan. 29 and 30, Chef Chris Hastings of the Hot and Hot Fish Club in Birmingham, Ala.
• May 20 and 21, Chef Steven Satterfield of Miller Union in Atlanta.

For more details about the events, go to www.stirthepotluck.com

Go HERE to read a profile I wrote of Christensen earlier this year.

Chef Ashley Christensen of Poole's Diner  in Raleigh takes on Food Network star Bobby Flay in Sunday night's episode of Iron Chef America. Tune in at 10 p.m. on the Food Network. If you are on twitter, use the #slayflay hashtag.

Photo by Staff photographer Travis Long.

Go HERE to read a profile I wrote earlier this year about Christensen.

Photo by Staff Photographer Travis Long

Ashley Christensen, the chef-owner of Poole's Diner in downtown Raleigh, will battle Food Network star Bobby Flay on the July 24 episode of Iron Chef America.

That's according to Ashley's most recent tweet: "Hey hey hey... I battle Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America on July 24th. Perhaps the most surreal experience of my entire life. Stay tuned..."

When I can get Ashley on the phone and know more, I'll get it on the blog.

In the Triangle, there are only two chefs that I know of who have appeared on Iron Chef: Walter Royal of the Angus Barn in Raleigh and Ricky Moore, formerly of Glasshalful in Carrboro.

Go HERE to read my profile of Christensen earlier this year.

UPDATE: Go HERE to see the listing on the Food Network's website for the episode.

Two dates have been chosen for chef Ashley Christensen's Stir the Pot events, which are fundraising events for Southern Foodways Alliance.

Here's how they typically work: On Sunday night, Christensen hosts a guest chef at her restaurant, Poole's Diner, for a fancy dinner. Tickets usually cost about $150. The next night, she hosts an industry potluck at her Raleigh home. Tickets have cost about $35. Proceeds benefit the Southern Foodways Alliance, a nonprofit based at the University of Mississippi that documents and celebrates Southern food traditions.

Tickets are not on sale yet. But mark your calendars for these days:

• July 17 and 18, Aug. 13 and 14, Chef Ed Lee of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky.
• Sept. 18 and 19, Chef John Fleer, formerly of The Inn at Blackberry Farm, now of Canyon Kitchen in the North Carolina mountains.

I'll share more details as they become available or reservations are open.

Go HERE to read a profile I did about Christensen earlier this year.