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Top industry leaders join forces for nonprofit that continues Charlie Trotter’s legacy

CHICAGO, April 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Trotter Project today announced Maneet Chauhan, internationally acclaimed chef, restaurateur and author and Janie Brooks Heuck, Managing Director of Brooks Wine as newly elected board members. These latest additions will help set the course for the nonprofit’s continued success, which in 2024 will mark 10 years of offering scholarships to students across America who wish to pursue careers in culinary arts, hospitality, and agriculture, as well as providing programs that use food as a vehicle to fuel a healthy lifestyle through cooking and nutrition education for children.  

“We are so excited to welcome Maneet Chauhan and Janie Brooks Heuck to the board, especially at a time when our May 15^th application deadline for culinary arts, hospitality, and agriculture scholarships is right around the corner,” said Trotter Project Co-Founder and CEO Derrek Miller.

Miller added, “Maneet and Janie’s knowledge of the restaurant industry coupled with their passion for the Trotter Project and their successful fundraising efforts will be invaluable assets as we look to expand our programming.”

Maneet Chahaun said, “When I was starting off as a young chef in Chicago, Charlie Trotter was very kind and encouraging. The legacy he has left for the food world is so widespread and everlasting, and it’s an honor to be a part of the Trotter Project nonprofit board because it gives me the opportunity to contribute to carrying on his legacy.”  

About The Trotter Project

The Trotter Project is a national nonprofit founded by members of Charlie Trotter’s family, Charlie Trotter’s restaurant alumni and friends, and Homaro Cantu’s moto restaurant alumni in 2014. The nonprofit offers programs that use food as a vehicle to fuel a healthy lifestyle through cooking and nutrition education for schools, children, and their families. In addition to offering the Charlie Trotter Pursuit of Excellence culinary arts scholarship, Homaro Cantu hospitality scholarship, and Farmer Lee Jones Agriculture scholarship annually, The Trotter Project collaborated with José Andres’ World Central Kitchen and other leading organizations to feed thousands in underserved communities in Chicago, Boston, and Los Angeles in 2020 and 2021.  

For more information about The Trotter Project, visit www.thetrotterproject.org.

About Maneet Chauhan

Food Network star Maneet Chauhan is a founding partner and president of the Morph Hospitality Group, which runs her celebrated Nashville restaurants Chauhan Ale & Masala House, Tànsuo, and The Mockingbird.  

Maneet Chauhan received the 2012 James Beard Foundation Broadcast Media Award for her role as a judge on the Food Network’s “Chopped.” She was honored with an Augie Award by Culinary Institute of America in 2022.

Chauhan is the author of two cookbooks and is also a co-founder of Hop Springs, home to the state’s largest craft brewery and a fun-filled 84-acre beer park located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

About Janie Brooks Heuck

Under Janie’s leadership, Brooks Wine produces an incredible selection of award-winning Willamette Valley wines. It is also the only winery in the world to be Demeter Certified for Biodynamics, a Certified B Corporation, Earth First E-Commerce Certified, a member of 1% for the Planet and a member of Ecologi.

Janie’s commitment to people, community, and our planet have garnered admiration and respect throughout the Oregon wine community. In 2022, Janie was named Oregon Wine Person of the Year by the Oregon Wine Press. Located in Willamette Valley, Brooks focuses on Pinot Noir and Rieslings crafting over 60 small production wines.

Media Contact:
Derrek Miller
312-914-0012
[email protected]

SOURCE The Trotter Project