Guy Fieri Hosts Fundraiser for ‘Top Chef’ Star Battling Cancer

Food Network star Guy Fieri and more than a dozen celebrity chefs gathered in Santa Rosa Saturday to raise money for a former “Top Chef” contestant battling cancer.

Fieri, a longtime Sonoma County resident, and his nonprofit Guy Fieri Foundation hosted the “Chefs for Shirley” event to benefit chef Shirley Chung, who competed on seasons 11 and 14 of Bravo’s cooking reality show “Top Chef.”

Chung announced on social media on July 26 that he had been diagnosed with stage four tongue cancer in May.

About 100 guests attended the event, which took place at a private residence, according to foundation spokeswoman Irika Slavin.

“It was a day filled with great food, wine, interactions, demonstrations, silent and live auctions, music, laughter and tears,” the foundation wrote in an Instagram post about the event,

In addition to premium wines and food, the event featured silent and live auctions and cooking demonstrations from chefs including Stephanie Izard, Crista Luedtke (owner of Guerneville’s Road Trip restaurant), Antonia Lofaso, Maneet Chauhan and Jet Tila, who both appeared on Fieri’s local game show, “Guy’s Grocery Games.”

Tickets cost between $2,500 and $4,500.

The total amount raised was not disclosed, but all proceeds went directly to Chung, Slavin said in an email Friday.