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‘TOO HOT TAMALES’, OTHER ACCLAIMED CHEFS HONORED AT ‘COOKING FOR
SOLUTIONS 2007’
Culinary gala, tours, “Iron Chef” event put sustainable cuisine in the
spotlight
Some of North America’s greatest chefs
including Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger – the “Too Hot Tamales” from
Border Grill in Santa Monica and Las Vegas – will share their passion for
fine dining and environmentally sustainable living as the award-winning
culinary leaders honored at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Cooking for
Solutions 2007.
During two days of public events on May 18-19, 2007, celebrity chefs from
three nations – selected and honored by the Monterey Bay Aquarium for their
leadership among as advocates for sustainable cuisine – will create gourmet
dishes, host food and wine adventures, and present cooking demonstrations
that feature sustainable seafood and organic ingredients.
All events support the aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which connects
individual buying decisions with the health of oceans and the soil.
Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, two of America’s most beloved and
well-known chefs through their restaurants, cookbooks and radio and
television programs, will receive the Cooking for Solutions Conservation
Leadership Award – Chefs of the Year at the sixth annual celebration.
These two committed advocates of sustainable seafood will be joined by
actor/writer John Cleese and noted chefs from the United States , Canada and
Panama as ambassadors for sustainable dining during a series of Cooking for
Solutions events.
Seven other culinary greats will be recognized as Celebrity Chef
Ambassadors: Charles Phan, of The Slanted Door, San Francisco; Elena
Hernandez, of Academia de Artes Culinarias, Panama City, Panama; Michael
Cimarusti, of Providence, Los Angeles; Douglas Katz, of Fire, Cleveland,
Ohio; Sam Choy, of Sam Choy’s Diamond Head Restaurant, Honolulu; Keith
Froggett, of Scaramouche, Toronto, Canada; and Chris Douglass, of Icarus
Restaurant, Boston.
They will be joined by Cooking for Solutions Founding Celebrity Chefs Jim
Dodge, of Bon Appétit Management Company, Palo Alto and John Ash, of Fetzer
Vineyards, Sonoma County , and by Special Guest Celebrity Chefs Allen Susser,
of Chef Allen’s, Aventura , Florida and Jesse Cool, of Cool Eatz, Menlo Park
. All four have been honored in past years as Celebrity Chef Ambassadors.
This year’s events include a festive Friday night gourmet gala on May 18
that features sustainable seafood and other dishes prepared using organic
ingredients – all created by the celebrity chefs, their local host chefs and
40 exceptional regional restaurants. In addition, 40 premium wineries from
California and the western United States will pour organic and sustainable
wines.
The gala will be preceded by a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception with
actor/writer John Cleese and Chef of the Year honorees Mary Sue Milliken and
Susan Feniger.
On Saturday, May 19, celebrity chefs will lead small-group food and wine
adventures around the Central Coast , including a gourmet picnic lunch with
the chef and a winemaker. At the aquarium, chefs Jim Dodge, Elena Hernandez
and Sam Choy will present morning cooking demonstrations, featuring
sustainable seafood and other ingredients.
Saturday evening brings the third Sustainable Seafood Challenge, an “Iron
Chef”-like event in which three Cooking for Solutions chefs (Keith Froggett,
Doug Katz, Chris Douglass and local chef Tim Wood of Bernardus Lodge)
prepare tasty seafood dishes from the same sustainable ingredients in a
tournament-style kitchen set-up while Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger
preside over the festivities and offer lively commentary.
The aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which inspired creation of Cooking for
Solutions, gives consumers, retailers and restaurateurs the tools and
information they need to choose seafood choices in ways that can assure a
future with abundant ocean wildlife.
Seafood Watch creates regional and national pocket guides to sustainable
seafood that consumers can use to guide their seafood buying decisions at
the restaurant or market. Since 1999, it has distributed nearly 21 million
pocket guides, each featuring seafood items popular in different parts of
the United States . It also partners with zoos, aquarium, conservation
organizations, retailers, restaurateurs and seafood purveyors to shift the
seafood market in directions that reward sustainability.
Seafood Watch pocket guides are also included with each DVD of the Academy
Award®-winning animated film Happy Feet distributed in the United States and
Canada .
Lead sponsor for Cooking for Solutions 2007 is Bon Appétit Management
Company.
Tickets for all events are available by calling the Monterey Bay Aquarium
toll-free at 866-963-9644. Information about Cooking for Solutions 2007,
including full program details and chef biographies, can be found online at
www.cookingforsolutions.org. Event brochures are available by sending an
email to events@mbayaq.org.
The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the
oceans.
VIP Reception with Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger and John Cleese
May 18, Fri., 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Auditorium and Portola Restaurant
Includes admission to Cooking for Solutions Gala
$225 general public/$180 aquarium members
Join us in the auditorium and Portola Restaurant for an exclusive private
reception with the Too Hot Tamales, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger,
emceed by writer/actor John Cleese. You'll enjoy wine and hors d'oeuvres, a
lively talk and cooking demonstration by Mary Sue and Susan, and will take
home an autographed copy of Too Hot Tamales. Includes admission to the gala
event that follows.
Event Information
Schedule of Events
Meet the Chefs
Get Their Books Now
Participating Restaurants & Wineries
Event Pricing & Packages
Photo Gallery of Past Events
Reservations & Tickets
(866) 963-9644 (toll-free)
(831) 647-6886
Press 5 for Special Events
Questions?
Call (831) 644-7561
Background Information
Watch a Cooking for Solutions
video of past gala and cooking demonstrations to see why this is an event
not to be missed.
Cooking for Solutions connects individual buying decisions to the health of
the oceans and the soil. All events support our Seafood Watch program, which
helps consumers make seafood choices that will assure a future with abundant
ocean wildlife.
Cooking for Solutions Gala
May 18, Fri., 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Aquarium galleries
$115 general public/$95 aquarium members
Enjoy an extravaganza of sustainable and organic food, seafood, wine and
non-alcoholic beverages. Forty-seven restaurants will offer tastes of
gourmet dishes prepared with sustainable ingredients; forty wineries will
pour sustainable and organic wines. Nine celebrity chefs, paired with local
host restaurants, will prepare the featured dishes and talk with you at food
stations throughout the aquarium. Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger will
sign copies of Too Hot Tamales and Mesa Mexicana during the evening. Price
includes souvenir wineglass and take-home recipes from all of our
participating chefs.
Celebrity Chef Cooking Demonstrations
May 19, Sat., 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Auditorium
$75 general public/$60 aquarium members
Join celebrity chefs Sam Choy (Sam Choy' Diamond Head Restaurant, Honolulu)
Jim Dodge (Bon Appétit Management Company, Palo Alto) and Elena Hernandez
(Academia de Artes Culinarias, Panama City, Panama) for demonstrations of
sustainable recipes in the auditorium. Includes continental breakfast,
take-home recipes by all the chefs.
Food & Wine Adventures
May 19, Sat., 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Begin and end at aquarium
Tour limit: 25 people per tour
$185 general public/$150 aquarium members
(Tax-deductible: $100 general public/$65 aquarium members)
Six of our celebrity chefs, along with actor/writer John Cleese, will lead
memorable small-group experiences. They'll talk about the connection between
sustainable farming and wine growing, and restoring healthy soil and oceans.
Price includes transportation and a gourmet lunch.
Tour 1: The Marriage of Food and Wine
Sponsored by The Lodge at Pebble Beach
Join John Ash (Fetzer Vineyards, Sonoma County) and the executive chef of
The Lodge at Pebble Beach as they unravel the mystery of harmonious pairings
of food and wine. Piercing through analytical ponderings and intimidating
jargon, they'll help you expand your comfort zone as they take the fear out
of wine. You'll discover new delights through their "aroma challenge" and
have an opportunity to take home fabulous prizes. Then John will lead you
through a food and wine pairing in which you'll taste several wines with
foods and learn how they interact and affect each other. Includes lunch
created by The Lodge at Pebble Beach, with premium wines by Fetzer and
Bonterra Vineyards.
Tour 2: Seafood Experience
Sponsored by Estancia
Join celebrity chef Michael Cimarusti (Providence, Los Angeles) and Wendy
Brodie (Art of Food, Carmel Highlands) for a tour of Monterey's commercial
wharf, including the aquaculture operation of Monterey Bay Abalone Co.
They'll offer tips about how to select the freshest seafood, and a Seafood
Watch staff member from the aquarium will share information about choosing
sustainable seafood. You'll then head south to Wendy's home in the Carmel
Highlands where Michael and Wendy will prepare and serve a gourmet lunch in
her demonstration kitchen with sweeping views of forest and ocean. Premium
wines provided by Estancia.
Tour 3: Carmel Valley Experience
Sponsored by Earthbound Farm
Join celebrity chef Allen Susser (Chef Allen's, Florida) and Earthbound Farm
co-founder Myra Goodman for this exceptional day. First you'll enjoy a rare
opportunity to explore the exclusive Tehama Golf Club, created by Clint
Eastwood on a mountain ridge overlooking Carmel Valley. You'll learn how
Tehama integrated development with land preservation efforts, water
conservation and preservation of native habitats, and along the way you'll
enjoy hors d'oeuvres prepared by Tehama Executive Chef Don McPherson. Then
you'll continue on to Earthbound Farm, and tour its picturesque organic farm
nestled in Carmel Valley. Afterward, you'll enjoy a fabulous organic lunch
with Chef Allen and Myra Goodman, provided by Earthbound Farm's Organic
Kitchen and accompanied by premium wines from Benziger Family Winery.
Winemaker Rodrigo Soto will share the winery's story and discuss its organic
and biodynamic winegrowing practices. At the end of the day, you'll take
home an autographed copy of Myra's new cookbook, Food to Live By:The
Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook.
Tour 4: Esalen Adventure
Sponsored by Esalen
Join celebrity chef Charles Phan (The Slanted Door, San Francisco) as you
explore the grounds and rich organic gardens at world-renowned Esalen
Institute in Big Sur. You'll learn how Esalen created and nourishes
extensive organic gardens that supply flowers and produce for the 27-acre
human potential center. You'll tour the Esalen kitchen with Matt Glazer,
director of food service operations, and learn about other approaches the
Institute takes to integrate gently with the landscape. The day will include
a cooking demonstration by Charles Phan, and a gourmet picnic lunch prepared
by the Esalen kitchen, served up in a picturesque setting. You'll enjoy
premium wines from Grgich Hills, all created with social responsibility in
mind, and get the story behind the wines from Ivo Jeramaz, vice president of
vineyards and production for the winery.
Tour 5: Elkhorn Slough Experience
Sponsored by Delaware North Companies
Join special guest celebrity chef Jesse Cool as you tour the wetlands and
sustainable ranchlands around Elkhorn Slough—the largest wetland between the
Bay Area and Southern California. You'll get an introduction to the abundant
wildlife and successful habitat restoration efforts at the slough from staff
with Elkhorn Slough Foundation, then learn how ALBA—the Agriculture and
Land-Based Training Association—is giving farmworkers and aspiring growers
an opportunity to raise and sell crops, in harmony with sensitive habitat,
on two nearby organic farms. You'll tour the century-old ranch house at
Porter Ranch, where you'll enjoy a scrumptious organic lunch catered by
executive chef Colin Moody, Delaware North Parks & Resorts at Asilomar,
including premium wines from Sokol-Blosser Winery. You'll meet president and
founder Susan Sokol-Blosser, and learn how the winery creates sustainable
wines of world class quality, and that express the distinctive flavors of
its hillside vineyards.
Deluxe Tour with Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger and John Cleese
Sponsored by Whole Foods
10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Deluxe tour limit: 40 people
$625 general public/$500 aquarium members
(Tax-deductible portion: $550 general public/
$425 aquarium members)
Join John Cleese and honored chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger for a
truly fabulous day. We’ll bring you to a spectacular Central Coast estate
where you’ll tour the grounds before settling down for appetizers and the
day’s highlight: a culinary demonstration and lively presentation on wine
and food pairing featuring John, Mary Sue and Susan. As part of the
experience, you’ll enjoy a gourmet picnic lunch catered by Whole Foods
Monterey, paired with premium sustainable wines provided by Sonoma-Cutrer
Vineyards and Jekel Vineyards.
Reception with Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger and Sustainable Seafood
Challenge
May 19, Sat., 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Monterey Plaza Hotel
$115 general public/$95 aquarium members
Join us at the elegant Monterey Plaza Hotel as four of our celebrated chefs
race the clock to create tasty (and sustainable) seafood dishes while Mary
Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger offer lively commentary. This year's
challenge features Keith Froggett, Alexandra Guarnaschelli, Douglas Katz and
local celebrity chef Tim Wood of Bernardus Lodge. You'll enjoy wine and
abundant hors d'oeuvres, and will take home an autographed copy of Mesa
Mexicana.
Sustainable Seafood Information Fair
May 19, Sat., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Aquarium galleries
Included with regular aquarium admission
Learn more about sustainable seafood, organic agriculture and sustainable
winemaking at information booths as you visit the aquarium galleries.
Demonstrations by celebrated chefs, and we'll offer tastes of sustainable
wild-caught Alaska salmon, too.
Event Packages
Cooking For Solutions Gala/Cooking Demonstrations
$155 general public/$125 aquarium member
VIP Reception or Sustainable Seafood Challenge/
Cooking For Solutions Gala/Cooking Demonstrations
$255 general public/$205 aquarium members
Cooking For Solutions Gala/Food and Wine Adventures (Tours 1-5)
$275 general public/$225 aquarium member
VIP Reception or Sustainable Seafood Challenge/
Cooking For Solutions Gala/Food and Wine Adventures (Tours 1-5)
$350 general public/$280 aquarium member
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