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Birmingham, meet Dinner Lab

On a rainy Friday night, 240 guests gathered in an abandoned building to do the unexpected: Enjoy fine dining for a good cause.

Birmingham’s first-ever Dinner Lab was held on April 17, 2015. Ticket sales and sponsorship opportunities raised fund to support the work of the UAB MHRC to improve the health of vulnerable populations and disadvantaged communities in Alabama and across the country.

The unconventional space was an abandoned Goodyear tire warehouse, near the UAB campus. The chef was Kwame Onwuachi, formerly of Eleven Madison Park and Per Se, now of The Shaw Bijou, opening in Washington D.C. in the fall of 2015.

The Celebration Host Committee was chaired by Dudley Reynolds and Corey Hartman, along with Frank Adams, Jr., Lajuana Bradford, Cathy O. Friedman, Koko Mackin, Wendy Padilla-Madden, Foster L. Ware, III and Donald Watkins, Jr., all members of the UAB MHRC Philanthropic Committee.

Dinner Lab is a membership-based social dining platform that connects undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners in unconventional spaces. Members may attend events in any city where Dinner Lab operates. Guests at the MHRC Celebration, Introducing Dinner Lab were able to attend without a membership to introduce Birmingham to this new concept in adventurous dining. In keeping with the spontaneity of a pop-up party, guests weren’t told the location until immediately prior to the event.

A special thanks to our generous sponsors:

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Dinner Lab

ADVOCATES

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama

Alabama Power

PARTNERS

Alagasco

Regions Financial Corporation

UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center

SUPPORTERS

Frank Adams, Jr.

Dudley Reynolds

Skin Wellness Center of Alabama

UAB Administration

UAB Department of Medicine

UAB Heersink School of Medicine

Donald Watkins, Jr. State Farm Agency

Special thanks also to Charles Barkley and Drew Watkins of Turner Sports, Ken Jackson, Auctioneer, Charles Yeates of International Wines, and the UAB Education Foundation for their invaluable support.

The MHRC is pleased to be able to introduce Birmingham to Dinner Lab. Like the MHRC, Dinner Lab is committed to diversity, research, and providing opportunities for young people to succeed. If you would like to learn more about the important work of the MHRC or how to you can support the Center, please contact Christian Smith, Major Gifts Officer for the Department of Medicine at cnsmith@uab.edu or (205) 934-1974.

Click here for Dinner Lab photo gallery

Map to the Goodyear Tire Warehouse 506 10th Street South
(Click map for larger image if needed.)		Driving Directions Go west on University Blvd (8th Avenue South) towards I-65. Turn right on 11th Street South (if you pass the northbound on ramp to I-65, you’ve gone too far. Fire Station #2 will be on the left. Continue straight to 5th Avenue South. Turn left onto 5th Avenue South. You will go under an overpass and the building will be on the left.

April 17, 2015

UAB is pleased to introduce Dinner Lab to Birmingham at a Celebration benefitting the
Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center. 
Dinner Lab is a social dining platform uniting undiscovered chefs with adventurous diners in unconventional spaces.
Chef Kwame Onwuachi will curate the menu for the evening. Formerly of Eleven Madison Park and Per Se in NYC,
Chef Kwame is chef and owner of The Shaw Bijou, opening in Washington D.C. this fall.

Sponsorships range from $5,000 - $25,000
    Single Ticket - $150

Proceeds from the evening will benefit the UAB MHRC, whose initiatives focus on reducing health differences resulting from social, economic, or environmental disadvantage for vulnerable and underserved communities in Alabama and across the country.

 
Dinner Lab in the News

• Weld Birmingham Article on Dinner Lab and MHRC Fundraiser
• Al.com article: Dinner Lab Comes to Birmingham. First Event is Benefit for UAB MHRC
• Entrepreneur - Data-licious: How Dinner Lab Used Feedback to Improve Food and Conversation
• New York Times
• Forbes
• About Dinner Lab