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12/21/2009
The Food Network’s Guy Fieri joins as a special guest emcee; great chefs, culinary gala, tours put spotlight on sustainable cuisine
Renowned chefs from across North America, including James Beard Award-winners Suzanne Goin of Lucques in Los Angeles and Rick Bayless of Topolobampo/Frontera Grill in Chicago will share their passion for fine dining and environmentally sustainable living when they’re honored at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s “Cooking for Solutions 2010” on May 21-22, 2010.
The Food Network’s Guy Fieri, host of four shows including Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, will participate for the first time as a special guest emcee for the Sustainable Seafood Challenge that concludes the two-day celebration.
At Cooking for Solutions, celebrity chefs – selected and recognized by the Monterey Bay Aquarium for their leadership in promoting food practices that protect the health of the ocean and the soil – will create gourmet dishes, host food and wine adventures, and offer cooking demonstrations that feature sustainable seafood and organic ingredients.
All proceeds support the nonprofit aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which has worked for the past decade to transform the seafood market in ways that preserve healthy ecosystems and sustain ocean wildlife.
Title sponsors of Cooking for Solutions 2010 are Bon Appétit Management Company, an award-winning food service company recognized internationally as a leader in promoting sustainable cuisine; and Coastal Living, a national magazine that celebrates life along the coast and serves as the source of inspiration and information for people who live or dream of living a coastal lifestyle.
Suzanne Goin, the influential founder of Lucques and two other acclaimed restaurants, will be recognized as Chef of the Year at the ninth annual “Cooking for Solutions” celebration.
Rick Bayless, the renowned chef, author and proponent of sustainable seafood and environmentally sound farming practices, will be honored as Educator of the Year – recognition that follows his earlier selection as a Cooking for Solutions Chef of the Year in 2006.
Seventeen other noted chefs from across the United States and Canada will also receive honors as Celebrity Chef Ambassadors.
New honorees include: François Blais (Panache Restaurant, Quebec City, Canada), Joanne Chang (Myers + Chang/Flour Bakery + Café, Boston), John Critchley (Area 31, Miami, Florida), Mark Dommen (One Market Restaurant, San Francisco), Anthony Fusco (formerly of Harbour, New York City), Kevin Gillespie (Woodfire Grill, Atlanta), Brandon Hill (Bamboo Sushi, Portland, Oregon), Gerald Hirgoyen (Piperade/Bocadillo, San Francisco), Brandon McGlamery (Luma on Park, Winter Park, Florida), Tim McKee (Sea Change/Solera/La Bell Vie, Minneapolis), Bruce Sherman (North Pond, Chicago) and Jason Wilson (Crush, Seattle).
They’ll be joined by five renowned chefs who have been honored at past celebrations: John Ash (cookbook author/culinary educator, Fetzer Vineyards, Hopland, California), Sam Choy (Sam Choy’s Breakfast, Lunch & Crab, and Big Aloha Brewery, Honolulu), Jesse Ziff Cool (Cool Eatz Restaurant and Catering/Flea St. Café, Menlo Park, California), Jim Dodge (Bon Appétit Management Company, Palo Alto) and Rick Moonen (Rick Moonen’s rm seafood at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada).
The Friday gala on May 21 – the signature celebration at Cooking for Solutions and a sell-out event every year – offers gourmet dishes from appetizers to desserts, created by the celebrity chefs, notable presenting chefs who host them for the events, and 75 exceptional regional restaurants. In addition, 60 premium vintners from California and the western U.S. will pour organic and sustainable wines. Organic juices, coffee and tea will also be available.
The gala will be preceded by a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception with Suzanne Goin and Rick Bayless. Noted chefs will sign their cookbooks during the gala, which also features a sustainable sushi lounge and a Premium Access Lounge for aquarium members.
Saturday’s lineup of Food and Wine Adventures includes culinary outings with several Cooking for Solutions chefs, including Suzanne Goin. Several chefs will also present morning cooking demonstrations at the aquarium featuring sustainable seafood and other ingredients.
Saturday evening brings the fifth Sustainable Seafood Challenge, an “Iron Chef”-like event in which four Cooking for Solutions chefs prepare tasty seafood dishes from the same sustainable ingredients in a tournament-style kitchen set-up. Guy Fieri and Sam Choy will provide lively commentary, before a judging panel recognizes the chefs in four fun categories.
The aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which inspired creation of Cooking for Solutions, gives consumers, chefs and major seafood buyers the tools and information they need to make seafood choices that help assure a future with abundant ocean wildlife.
In 2009, the aquarium published Turning the Tide: The State of Seafood, a benchmark research report documenting progress toward securing a sustainable seafood supply for the future.
At year’s end, sustainable seafood – and sustainable dining in general – was identified as a top national culinary trend by influential publications and observers, including Nation’s Restaurant News.
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 – including an iPhone app that debuted in 2009 and that has been downloaded by more than 175,000 people.
Since 1999, Seafood Watch has distributed more than 32 million pocket guides, all featuring seafood items popular in different regions of the United States. It also partners with zoos, aquarium, conservation organizations, national retailers, restaurateurs and seafood distributors – all to shift the seafood market in directions that reward fishing practices that protect ocean ecosystems and the marine animals that depend on them.
Seafood Watch recommendations are also available for internet-enabled mobile devices.
Tickets for Cooking for Solutions 2010 are available by calling the Monterey Bay Aquarium toll-free at 866-963-9645, beginning January 4 for aquarium members and January 18 for the general public.
Details are available online at www.cookingforsolutions.org. You can request event brochures by sending an email to events@mbayaq.org.
The mission of the nonprofit Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans. To learn more, visit www.montereybayaquarium.org.
Public Relations can provide photos of Suzanne Goin, Rick Bayless, Guy Fieri and other chefs; and photos/video of past Cooking for Solutions events.
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