George Mavrothalassitis, aka Chef Mavro, just dropped off some Big Island abalone at the James Beard House in New York City. How do I know? He tweeted about it. (It’s also sunny and beautiful in Gotham.) He’s preparing for tomorrow night’s big dinner/fundraiser in honor of Mildred Amico, who for 22 years is the person who booked the chefs who cooked at this culinary center. Mildred has met them all, and she chose nine of her favorites for this $500-a-seat dinner. Mavrothalassitis is one of them. Alongside him in the kitchen will be: Florian Bellanger (Mac Mac and Ruby et Violette), Ed Brown (Eight One), Rebecca Charles (Pearl Oyster Bar), Clark Frasier and Mark Gaier (Arrows), Eric Ripert (Le Bernardin), Ming Tsai (Blue Ginger), and Takashi Yagihashi (Takashi). They’ll all be in the historic James Beard House in Greenwich Village.

George’s wife and publicist Donna Jung informed me that they went to Keahole last Tuesday to thank Big Island Abalone Corporation for donating the abalone for the Beard House event. “It’s a short short trip just to honor Mildred and all she has done to schedule Hawai‘i chefs for the James Beard House stage over the last two decades,” says Donna. “It’s helped Hawai‘i get on the culinary map.”

Track George on his NYC experience—follow him on Twitter (@chefmavro). I’m also on Twitter, but not a celebrity chef (@HIwrite).