Rodney Scott in Baltimore
Pitmaster and James Beard award‑winning chef Rodney Scott will appear at Baltimore’s annual Plated fundraiser to support the Franciscan Center’s culinary and community programs, WBAL reports (wbaltv.com). The appearance ties into the center’s Dignity Plates initiative, which links culinary events to local food programs (wbaltv.com).
Rodney Scott, the South Carolina pitmaster who won a James Beard Award, is in Baltimore for the Franciscan Center’s annual Plated fundraiser on April 16. (fcbmore.org) The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum, and the Franciscan Center says Scott will appear as the featured guest at its fourth Plated fundraiser. (fcbmore.org) WBAL reported Thursday that tickets cost $175 and that the event was nearly sold out as the fundraiser approached. The station said proceeds support the Franciscan Center’s culinary program and broader community services in Baltimore. (wbaltv.com) The fundraiser is built around Dignity Plates, the Franciscan Center’s culinary training effort. The nonprofit says the program is a 13-week, no-cost academy that teaches kitchen skills, attendance, dress, and workplace expectations. (fcbmore.org) That training sits inside a larger Baltimore charity with a long footprint. WYPR reported in 2024 that the Franciscan Center had been serving the city for 140 years through food, clothing, counseling, and dental care before adding the Dignity Plates academy. (wypr.org) WBAL said graduates of Dignity Plates help prepare food that is then served through the center’s daily lunch service from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. That links the fundraising dinner to the center’s regular meal program, not just a one-night event. (wbaltv.com) Scott brings national name recognition to that pitch. The James Beard Foundation awarded him Best Chef: Southeast in 2018, and food festival biographies say he has cooked whole-hog barbecue over wood coals since childhood and expanded Rodney Scott’s BBQ from Charleston to Birmingham and Atlanta. (foodandwineclassicincharleston.com) WMAR called Plated the Franciscan Center’s largest fundraiser and said the night also includes a friendly cooking competition alongside Scott’s appearance. That gives the nonprofit a higher-profile stage as it seeks support for job training and meal service at the same time. (wmar2news.com) By Thursday, the Franciscan Center was using Scott’s visit to draw attention to a local program that turns culinary training into daily meals on West 23rd Street. Plated lasts one evening, but the group is pitching it as a way to fund work that continues after the guests go home. (wbaltv.com)
