Lee Brian Schrager Bake Sale Keeps Restaurant Relief Alive in South Florida

SOBEWFF® & FIU Chaplin School Hospitality Fund Has Raised $1.6 Million to Date

The little neighborhood bake sale that has turned into the hottest local foodie sensation is back for the fourth week in a row – Sunday, May 17 from noon until sold out – to keep restaurant relief alive even as South Florida community officials contemplate phases of reopening. Lee Brian Schrager’s “Putting on the Pounds (LBS)” Bake Sale benefits the  SOBEWFF® & FIU Chaplin School Hospitality Industry Relief Fund, which provides immediate financial support to independently owned and operated restaurants and bars impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. To date, the Fund has raised more than $1.6 million and has already granted $1.4 million to more than 500 local restaurants in South Florida.

With a rotating squad of celebrity special guests and a line-up of treats from some of the hottest restaurants and bartenders in town, the unique social distancing-observed bake sale in the front yard of Schrager’s home has regularly drawn mile-long lines of cars to the quiet French Village section of Coral Gables.

This Sunday, Lee will be joined by co-host Nicole Lopez-Alvar, digital journalist and foodie influencer. Local food and beverage icons bringing delectable dishes this week for $25 each will be:

• Night Owl Cookies – box of 6 signature homemade cookies;
• Chef Adrianne Calvo – box of dark chocolate Nutella croissant bread pudding;
• Zak the Baker – box of chocolate and cinnamon babka;
• Cao Chocolates – box of 12 Miami-inspired bonbons and truffles;
• The Salty Donut – box of 6 chef-made, small-batch craft donuts;
• La Petite Maison – cocktail kit;
• The Dumpling Lady Miami – box of 12 spicy pork dumplings;
• Bar Lab – cocktail mixer kit featuring premade mixes of two cocktails (alcohol not included); and
• Cielito Artisan Pops – box of 5 assorted cream and fruit-flavored ice pops.

Special guests stopping by throughout the afternoon include:

• Roxanne Vargas, NBC 6 Anchor and Host of “6 in the Mix”;
• Lisa Petrillo, Emmy Award-winning journalist and CBS 4 Miami Entertainment and Lifestyle Reporter;
• Raúl de Molina, multiple Emmy Award-winning co-host of the Univision Network’s number-one-rated entertainment news show, “El Gordo y la Flaca”;
• Gio Gutierrez, Founder of ChatChow TV;
• Louis Aguirre, Emmy Award-winning journalist and ABC 10 News Anchor; and of course,
• Lee’s four-legged family members, The Browns – Charlie and Stanley Brown!