Chef Jim Burke’s daily therapy becomes a happy-hour fund-raiser for lung cancer
His wife, Kristina, calls his pill time “Tag Time Happy Hour” after Tagrisso, the drug that doctors say is helping him.
Every day between 5 and 6 p.m., whether at home in Fitler Square or in the kitchen at Wm. Mulherin’s Sons, chef Jim Burke takes a pill called Tagrisso to treat his lung cancer, which was diagnosed in August 2020.
His wife, Kristina, a lifer in the restaurant business who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019, took to calling the ritual “Tag Time Happy Hour,” celebrating with son Daniel, 11, and daughter Sadie, 7. The couple’s friends turned it into a thing, too — calling, texting, and sending cheery videos and dropping off wine to keep up their spirits.
The Burkes, both 47, have turned the happy hour into a fund-raiser for the LUNGevity Foundation, a private provider of research funding for lung cancer.
» READ MORE: Rittenhouse Row businesses host a Tag Time fundraiser
“I could tell by people’s reaction to this, that there was really something meaningful behind this movement,” Kristina Burke, who with her husband owned the South Philadelphia restaurant James from 2006 to 2011.
“The pandemic had been so crushing, and people were looking for anything to help others and share joy.” The next step, which started in April: hosting actual happy hours as a way to raise money for lung cancer research.
First was a benefit happy hour at Suraya in Fishtown, and from there the idea snowballed. “I thought I’d just ask a handful of folks, but generous and gracious people in our industry are rallying behind us and we have participants in six different states and about 30 participants in Philly alone,” said Kristina Burke, who created an Instagram account and a website.
It’s more than just happy-hour specials. Pizzeria Stella on Head House Square brought in the Burke children to create gelato — Daniel’s is dark chocolate with chocolate brownie chunks and blueberry jam, while Sadie’s is strawberry with basil and toasted almonds — with all proceeds in May bound for LUNGevity. Di Bruno Bros. named a risotto dish after Kristina Burke and will donate a portion of its sales.
The Burkes’ movement caught the attention of Randi Sirkin of Starr Restaurant Organization and Ellen Yin of a.kitchen & bar, who got the support of Rittenhouse Row, the business association that covers Center City Philadelphia west of Broad Street. On the weekend that would have been the annual Rittenhouse Row Spring Festival (May 21 to May 23), the member businesses instead will unite for a cause, hosting benefit brunches, dinners, happy-hour specials, and retail sales, and offering Jim Burke-inspired dishes. A full list, including nonfood businesses, will be available by May 10.
The goal is to improve outcomes for patients with EGFR-positive lung cancer, which affects nonsmokers like Burke.