NEW YORK CITY – Monday, September 3rd, marked the end of a successful week of collaboration between A Free Bird and Celebrity Chef Floyd Cardoz! A Free Bird Organization’s young rising star, Nicole Morreale, collaborated with Top Chef Master Floyd Cardoz and Battery Park City restaurant, North End Grill, to create a special dessert. This sweet treat was made exclusively to celebrate and support A Free Bird’s mission to give young artists who have been affected by cancer a chance to continue exploring their passions. Winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters competition, Floyd Cardoz, and the pastry chef of North End Grill, Alexandra Ray, worked with seventeen-year-old culinary enthusiast and pediatric cancer survivor, Nicole Morreale, to create a special peach ice cream and raspberry sorbet sundae.
From August 27th through September 3rd, the dessert was featured on North End Grill’s menu as an exclusive item, and the proceeds along with donations are going directly to A Free Bird, as well as the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of New York Presbyterian.
This event was a great accomplishment! On Monday, August 27th, actor and film producer, Leonardo DiCaprio, was at the North End Grill and generously donated to A Free Bird’s cause. Our sponsors included Best Buy, Vivendi Corp., Power Ice, Dasha Wellness and Spa, and In2Website. 16th Avenue Home Center and The Peppermill Inc. donated cookware for Nicole, and Home Cooking New York donated cooking classes for the aspiring chef. When asked about the opportunity to work with the skilled Chef Cardoz, Nicole said, “The experience I had was in fact amazing…This opportunity was one in a million. It’s every child’s dream to meet and collaborate with people who they believe that they might become when they’re older. In this case this was a dream of mine, to get a sneak peek look at what goes on in a professional kitchen.”
Nicole was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 7 years old. Now 17, she is cancer free and dreams of being a pastry chef. She has even showcased her cooking and baking skills at events for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation and impressed her supporters with her talent and passion for cooking. A Free Bird is very happy that we had the opportunity to help Nicole pursue her goal and we look forward to helping many more young artists.
