LCOC Hosts Third Annual Chef’s Challenge Featuring Famed Chef Michael Ceraldi

BREWSTER – The Lower Cape Outreach Council is back for its third annual Chef’s Challenge—but this year, the event comes with a new twist. 

Renowned Cape Cod Chef Michael Ceraldi will be the sole challenger, working from the Lower Cape Outreach Council’s (LCOC) pantry to craft tastings for attendees. In years past, multiple chefs have competed to craft meals for a panel of judges. Although Ceraldi won’t be competing against others, the nature of the event still presents a challenge. 

The event, which will take place on Thursday, April 30, will be held at Ocean Edge Resort’s Bay Pines Pavilion. Limited event tickets remain at $150 per guest and can be purchased at chefs2026.givesmart.com.

Proceeds will benefit the stocking of LCOC’s nine emergency food pantries on the Lower and Outer Cape, where one in three residents are now food-insecure.

Ceraldi began his Cape Cod career in 2010 when he moved to Provincetown to work at Dalla Cucina, which was located at 404 Commercial St. Ceraldi stayed on as executive chef for three years while his partner, Jesse, worked as a high school science teacher. She taught the last graduating class of Provincetown High School before it closed permanently. 

In 2013, Ceraldi admitted that he would love to open his own restaurant. What started as a pop-up dinner service across from Lands End Hardware became a year-long, seven-coursed, two-seatings arrangement. 

He would get produce, meat and dairy products from local farmers across Cape Cod, crafting the menu by what was available at the farms.

After a year of pop-up service, Ceraldi opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Wellfleet, where they stayed for 11 years. 

His namesake, Ceraldi, moved back to Provincetown in 2025. 

“Collaborative life partners and artists Jesse and Michael developed Ceraldi as a reflection of their connection to the sea, the land, and the natural shifting flow of Cape life,” said in a blurb written by Jesse about the restaurant. “Jesse remains attentive as the resident Artist Scholar, while Chef Artist Michael Ceraldi leads the culinary team in telling the daily story through food. Michael has worked in kitchens in Bologna, Syracuse, New York City, Louisville, and Cape Cod. His passion for seasonal, locally grown ingredients is rooted in his Italian heritage and training. Ceraldi values stewardship and strong community bonds built from knowing and working with local growers, farmers, and fishers.”

Ceraldi said he takes great pride in sourcing his ingredients locally, as a collaboration within his own community. In that sense, Ceraldi said the challenge of the LCOC event is somewhat familiar to him. 

“Buying from our community, it's the same sort of responsibility of being a part of keeping [the] mentality of we're in this together,” he said. ”If I can buy my gin from the people at the vineyard and my chicken from Drew down the road and my beef from Laura at Sealand and Dennis, I am supporting families in this community.”

The pantry at LCOC is usually full of shelf-stable ingredients, meaning Ceraldi will have to get creative with his menu.  

This will be his first time crafting food for the event, but he has worked with LCOC in the past, offering his at-home service as an auction item. In the event's past, the organization raised about $19,000 off his services alone. 

Ceraldi’s goal within his own restaurant is fundamentally similar to the mission of LCOC: to combat the rising food insecurity across the Cape. The work at LCOC is close to his heart, he said. 

Now, Ceraldi lives fulltime with Jesse and their three kids, Hugo, Violette and Arielle in Brewster. 

The event begins at 5 p.m. and will include passed hors d’oeuvres, food stations, a raw bar, a signature cocktail, and silent and live auctions. Music and a Fund-a-Need will top the night off.