"Best of Boston" Event featuring Smoke Shop, Flour Bakery and Night Shift Brewing

Join us for a fun evening for a great cause!

We are thrilled to announce that this spring’s fundraising event will feature some incredible local talent! The evening will include a multi-course, family-style dinner by "Best of Boston" Chef Andy Husbands of The Smoke Shop BBQ - the reigning “World Champion Pitmaster”! He will treat guests to an abundance of his famous smoked meats and delectable sides. The first hour of the evening will feature a craft beer tasting by "Best of Boston" and World Beer Cup award winner Night Shift Brewing. We will also host a live cooking demo and scrumptious passed appetizers prepared by NECAT’s own students and chefs. The evenings will conclude with delectable desserts prepared by the one and only "Best of Boston" Flour Bakery + Café. Our students will not only be helping to cook, but will be serving and supporting all aspects of the event, showing off the program they love.

Click here for more information about sponsorship opportutnities and contact Jessica Williamson with questions at jwilliamson@ne-cat.org or (617) 442-3600 x712.

Event proceeds will benefit NECAT's Culinary Arts Job Training Program, which provides free culinary instruction to chronically unemployed adults who face generational poverty, homelessness, addiction and other barriers to stable employment. After 16-weeks of intensive kitchen training, job readiness coaching and social and emotional skill development, NECAT helps its students launch careers, achieve stability and build purposeful lives.

Meet Chef Andy Husbands:
At age 14, when Chef Husbands moved to Boston, he started working at a local neighborhood bakery and has never looked back. After finishing his culinary degree at Johnson and Whales, Husbands worked his way up to Executive Chef at the nationally renowned East Coast Grill, working under James Beard-award-winning chef Chris Schlesinger. In the '90s, Husbands opened his own restaurant, South-End favorite Tremont 647, with a commitment to serving seasonal, locally grown food. Chef Husbands also started developing a reputation for giving his time to non-profits and was very active with Share Our Strength, Taste of the Nation and other events. Husbands won award after award for his barbecue (including World Champion pitmaster!) and opened The Smoke Shop BBQ in 2016, now in three locations. The Smoke Shop has been named "Boston's Best Barbecue" by Boston Magazine and the Improper Bostonian. Check out the Chef's five cookbooks or take one of his pitmaster classes to learn the art of barbecue yourself!

Meet Pastry Chef Jonathan Posiko
Chef Posiko studied at the Culinary Institute of America and has worked in the kitchens of luxury hotels, bakeries and fine-dining restaurants. He spent four years as the executive pastry chef at Rialto before joining the Flour team. "When not at work I can be found with my wife and twin daughters mostly toiling in our community garden, traveling backroads in search of food, enjoying the outdoors or tirelessly making our meals from scratch."

Meet Pastry Chef Jessica Morris
Chef Morris received her training at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. After wroking at the beloved Bread and Chocolate in Newton for four years, Chef Morris has been the Assistant Executive Pastry Chef at Flour for 5 years. "I love this city​ — ​the food and drink scene, the sports, the people​. Pretty much everything except the parking. I collect old cookbooks, obscure cookie cutters and ramekins for dipping sauces. When I’m not at Flour​, ​you can find me roaming around the cheese section of the grocery store."

Meet Night Shift Brewing
Night Shift was founded in 2012 by a trio of friends with a shared passion for homebrewing. What began as a nocturnal hobby has now grown bigger than their wildest dreams – from its brewery and Taproom in Everett, to a distribution business, to their Owl’s Nest beer gardens, to coffee roasting and its latest location on Boston’s Lovejoy Wharf. "With this growing “family” in place, we exist to always create better for our staff, customers, and community.