Pitmaster Rodney Scott visits Baltimore

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. (wbaltv.com) The event runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the B&O Railroad Museum and serves as the Franciscan Center’s flagship fundraiser. Individual tickets were listed at $175, and the center said the event was nearly sold out. (plated.fcbmore.org) (wbaltv.com) Plated 4 includes food and drinks from Baltimore chefs and beverage makers, plus a live cooking competition featuring graduates of the center’s Dignity Plates Culinary Training Academy. The B&O Railroad Museum also bills the night as “An Epicurean Affair.” (borail.org) (archbalt.org) The fundraiser is tied directly to the Franciscan Center’s daily operations on West 23rd Street. The nonprofit says it serves lunch Monday through Friday and dinner on Tuesday and Wednesday, feeding 400 to 600 people per day. (fcbmore.org) (icarol.info) It also supports Dignity Plates, a 13-week, no-cost culinary training program in Baltimore. The Franciscan Center says students learn kitchen fundamentals, sanitation and food-service skills, and successful candidates earn ServSafe Food Manager certification. (fcbmore.org) (wbaltv.com) The center opened the B&O Café in 2024 as a social enterprise run by Dignity Plates graduates at the museum that now hosts Plated. Last year’s Plated event drew more than 300 guests and featured more than 20 local food and drink businesses. (i95business.com) (citybiz.co) Scott is best known for whole-hog barbecue and won the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Southeast award in 2018. His restaurant group says Rodney Scott’s BBQ now has locations in Charleston, Birmingham, Atlanta and Nashville. (pebblebeachfoodandwine.com) (swlexledger.com) In a WBAL-TV interview from the Franciscan Center kitchen, Scott said he was drawn by “the confidence, and the education” the program gives young chefs. On Thursday night, that visit turns into a fundraiser for the meals, training and emergency services the center says it provides across Baltimore. (wbaltv.com) (fcbmore.org)