Chef and Restaurant Benefit Dinners

Giusto

When
May 30, 2025
Where
Giusto 4 Commercial Wharf
Newport, RI
Tickets/Info

Come to the City by the Sea to enjoy a 5 Course Tasting Menu with beverage pairings hosted by Chef Kevin O’Donnell at Giusto. Giusto’s Executive Chef William Rietzel and Pastry Chef Sarah Larose will be cooking alongside guest chefs Robert Andreozzi of Pizza Marvin, Basil Yu of Yagi Noodles and Eric Brown of Frank and Laurie’s. Each chef will be cooking their own individual style with a heavy influence of classic French cuisine.

Highlights

  • 5 Course dinner with beverage pairing inspired by Chef Jacques Pepin
  • Welcome reception with passed canapés and champagne
  • Waterfront restaurant with beautiful sunset views
  • Taste food from some of the best restaurants across Rhode Island
  • Non alcoholic beverage pairing available upon request

Details

  • Welcome reception will begin at 5:30pm with a seated dinner to follow at 6:15pm. Valet parking is available through Hammetts Hotel.
  • Proceeds will support the Jacques Pépin Foundation. Your ticket purchase helps transform lives through culinary education, and we deeply appreciate your generous support.
  • Jacques Pépin proudly supports our 90/90 Celebrations. While he can’t be present at all of them, we invite you to check our website for details on the events where he will joining in celebration.
  • Tickets and details forthcoming.

Event Hosts

Kevin O'Donnell

Kevin O’Donnell

Chef/owner, Giusto

Kevin O’Donnell is a chef and restaurateur from Rhode Island. His first solo venture Giusto is a James Beard nominated restaurant located in Newport serving freestyle Italian cuisine highlighting the best of Rhode Island’s farms and Narragansett Bay. In 2023, he opened his second restaurant in Newport, Mother Pizzeria, followed by Giusto PVD and Mother Pizzeria PVD at Track 15, the first food hall to open in Providence in February of 2025.  Kevin is also a core instructor at Boston University in the Culinary Arts program founded by Chef Jacques Pepin.

Sarah LaRose

Sarah LaRose

Pastry Chef, Giusto

A Rhode Island native, Sarah’s love of baking began at eleven years old making cakes for family and friends. Her father, an artist, inspired her creations, and spending time in the kitchen cooking with both of her parents, merged both worlds.

While cakes were Sarah’s passion, attending Johnson & Wales University made her realize she wanted to learn about every aspect of pastry from bread making to chocolate work. After graduation, Sarah moved to New York City to intern at Ron Ben-Israel Cakes before moving home to Rhode Island to take the pastry position at The Chanler at Cliff Walk, a luxury hotel in Newport. Over the next three years, she developed their chocolate and cake programs.

In the spring of 2023, Sarah returned to Newport as Pastry Chef at Giusto. She uses her spare time to specialize on custom hand painted cakes and bonbons.

Guest Chefs

Robert Andreozzi

Robert Andreozzi

Chef/owner, Pizza Marvin

When he was in high school in Rhode Island, Robert Andreozzi was set on going to culinary school, but his parents asked him to go to college first. After graduating with a political science degree and dreading the thought of applying to law schools, he enrolled at Johnson & Wales’ Denver campus. He then spent time at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, New York, where he not only learned to work in a fast-paced environment, but also how to push himself and be intentional about every single action. He parlayed this into his next experience at Del Posto with Chef Mark Ladner, who taught Andreozzi how to tell a story through food. After working a short stint in Italy, A friend from culinary school convinced him to move back to Colorado, where he went on to work at the fine dining restaurant, Frasca Food and Wine.

In 2016, Andreozzi returned to Providence and helped open the Italian concept, Sarto. He left in 2017, and while consulting on a project in Newport, met Rhode Island bartending aficionado Jesse Hedberg. The two immediately hit it off, and grew their professional relationship. After workshopping a few concepts, the idea for Pizza Marvin made too much sense—a square slice and round pie takeout joint with killer cocktails. Celebrating Hedberg’s penchant for design, Pizza Marvin focuses on approachability while showcasing masterful technique in both the kitchen and bar program. A hub for the industry and the Providence community at large, each year Pizza Marvin hosts a beach cleanup to benefit Save The Bay called “Restore The Store”, as well a holiday event called “12 Pies of Christmas” which gives back to Providence while also providing a platform for other industry friends and colleagues to showcase their flavors and collaborate through pizza.

Basil Yu

Basil Yu

Chef/owner, Yagi Noodles

Basil Yu is the chef and owner of Yagi Noodles in Newport, Rhode Island. Yagi Noodles is a craft ramen restaurant featuring handmade noodles using freshly milled, locally sourced wheat. Basil draws inspiration from his experience as a first generation Chinese-American in New England along with the cuisines of Japan and China to create a menu that tells a uniquely American story.

Basil comes from a fine dining background in luxury hospitality and applies the same level of detail to a casual and fun dining experience. Since opening, Yagi Noodles has been awarded ‘Best New Restaurant 2022’ and ‘Best Asian Restaurant’ for 2022, 2023, and 2024 by Rhode Island Monthly’s Best of RI. Basil was awarded StarChefs Rising Star Coastal New England in 2023 and received a James Beard nomination for Best Chef Northeast in 2024.