Contemporary Cuisine Collaboration Dinner on 7/31

With all of the collaboration dinners going on in Philly these days it's tough to decide which gathering is worth your hard-earned money. If you've kept a keen eye on Twitter tonight, you might have noticed a few of Philly's more technically-inclined chefs discussing recipes and dishes. Most notably, Shola Olunloyo (@Studiokitchen), Jason Cichonski (@JasonCichonski), Chris Kearse (@WillBYOB), and pastry-queen Monica Glass (@ChefMoni).

It turns out that those tweets are more than just talk, as these four chefs are putting on a team dinner of their own on July 31 at Cichonski's Ela. The reservation line will be open starting Thursday, July 5 at the restaurant. The dinner includes five courses for $75. There will be an optional drink pairing for an additional cost.

"A lot of the chefs in Philly like to chatter about new techniques or concepts over Twitter," Olunloyo told Eater. "We thought it would be fun to pull out all the stops and really show people what can be done in 2012, to a whole new audience."

Cichonski, who is no stranger to contemporary cuisine thought Ela would be a good place to hold the dinner. "Chris is working on his restaurant, Monica is consulting, and Shola's space is too small for the audience we're hoping to attract," Cichonski said. "Also, the crowd that visits Ela knows I like to mess around with this stuff already, so it isn't a shock to the system."

Chris Kearse, who is a few short months away from opening his upcoming BYOB Will, made a name for himself at Pumpkin going full-steam-ahead with high-level techniques and ingredients. "We're not here to convince anyone that contemporary techniques and style are the way to go" added Kearse. "We're just here to show them what it can do, what it can be. A big part of the dining experience is theater, and you'll definitely experience that at this collaboration dinner."

Monica Glass, who was recently selected to compete with StarChefs is the lone sweet-maker in the group. "The dessert world has traditionally been an afterthought, and here it's part of a truly collaborative effort. Lots of pastry techniques are applicable to the savory world, and vice versa. It'll be interesting to see how everything interweaves as the dinner progresses."

The chefs will be discussing the menu development on their Twitter accounts, so stay glued to them for a preview of what's to come in a few weeks in Queen Village.

· Ela [Official]