Soledad O’Brien To Show Her TrueFlavors

Facing off against MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski (co-host of Morning Joe and an MSNBC anchor), Soledad O’Brien, CNN anchor and special correspondent, will be competing in TrueChild’s second annual TrueFlavors Celebrity Cook-off at The Institute of Culinary Education in New York on Friday, May 8th. The two celebrity moms will be cooking in an Iron Chef-style competition where they will be presented with a mystery ingredient to incorporate. Top Chef winners Harold Dieterle (Season 1, owner and chef of NYC’s Perilla) and Hung Huynh (Season 3, executive chef of NYC’s Solo) will be on the other side this time, judging the competition.

We asked Soledad about her specialties and what dishes she might prepare as part of the competition. She told us,

“I have no specialties – I don’t cook! I’m a good sous chef, I can chop and I follow directions well. So we’ll win because I’m a good listener and a good, efficient executer of vision. If they’re expecting me to come up with meals, I’m clear on what I like and what I don’t like, but I can’t cook. A lot of cooking, though, is following directions well, and I can do that! There’s a professional chef working with me. Do you think I’d agree to that otherwise? I have four kids – I make chicken nuggets!”

The event is a fundraiser for TrueChild, whose mission is to break through gender stereotypes so children can be true to themselves and reach their full potential. The organization was founded by a group of parents who were concerned that the narrow, stereotypical messages their children were seeing (sex appeal, pink, babies for girls, and guns, toughness and sports for boys) would prevent them from being themselves and reaching their full potential.

Not in NYC? There will be two more TrueFlavors events in June: One in Austin featuring Top Chef’s Tre Wilcox and Mizael Saucedo and one in Denver with Top Chef’s Alex Eusebio and Melissa Harrison, plus four more in the fall in Atlanta, D.C., San Francisco and Orlando, with celebrities to be announced. The first in the series, in Chicago, sold out, featuring Top Chef’s Carla Hall and Stefan Richter.

At $250 for the NYC event, the tickets are going to be a splurge for most people but the event benefits TrueChild and it’s a very intimate environment — around 250 guests. You’ll have the opportunity to mingle with the celebrities and chefs, plus there will be “heavy” hors d’oeuvres, specialty drinks and goody bags! Purchase tickets here!

– Danielle