December 15, 2021 – An unquantifiable amount of winemaker generosity, chef hustle and volunteer elbow grease figure into an event I can safely call my favorite food-and-wine festival on this planet. (Full disclosure: I am totally biased because I’m one of its volunteers.)
But ultimately the most important number can be tracked.
For the entirely volunteer-run Big Sur Food & Wine 2021, that would be $150,000.
That’s the whopping total that the 501c3 nonprofit Big Sur Food & Wine Foundation will direct in two primary directions: 1) toward the Big Sur community’s health, education, safety and the arts; 2) toward cultural opportunities and land maintenance of the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County.
The new second priority represents an addition, and one that was alive with a mountain-top, cliff-adjacent, native food-driven dinner as part of this year’s festivities.
Edible Monterey Bay’s Maria Gaura attended and describes “a beautiful and intimate evening full of heartfelt emotion and culinary revelation” as part of a piece titled, “Earth Ceremony: Esselen Tribe members create a feast inspired by their ancestors.”
In addition to the tribe, the specific beneficiaries include Big Sur Fire Brigade, Big Sur Grange, Big Sur Health Center, Big Sur Park School, Big Sur Softball, Captain Cooper School, MidCoast Fire Brigade, Pacific Valley School, The Henry Miller Memorial Library and Ventana Wildlife Society.
The announcement came from chief financial officer Elsa Rivera at a volunteer thank you party at Del Rey Oaks’ Moose Lodge this Sunday that was alive with Babaloo Cuban Café food, Haley Jane Band live music and fleets of standout small-lot wines. Rivera added her thoughts on what inspires the foundation before handing the mic over to the band.
“Our ‘why’ [comes from] a lot of misconception about defining ‘needs’ in Big Sur,” she said, in part. “People tend to overlook the hard-working families who live and work there and are stewards of the land.”
In a statement circulated today, Rivera thanked donors like Post Ranch Inn, Union Bank, WideOrbit and private individuals “who enjoy and believe in what we do.” She added BSFW is developing new ways to fundraise; this year, that took the shape of running a Car Week pop-up Ferrari event at The Barnyard that drummed up $16,000.
BSFW’s popular, outlandish and artistic sibling event Big Sur Fashion Show also brings in a sizable chunk of change. This year’s sold-out installment pulled down $12,000.
“It continues to be one of the most remarkable events of the year,” Rivera says.
She and BSFW president Aengus Wagner nodded to the festival’s “tireless” working committee (Matt Peterson, Peggy Giles, Jennifer Haydu, Roman Reed, Laurie Smith, Amanda Oliver, Olivia Carnahan, Ashley Wolff and Gillian Bryson); event captains Bonnie Graves, Mike Trupiano and Kari Bernardi; and the legion chefs, somms, designers, models, sponsors, volunteers and supporters.
Wagner also shouted out his fellow members of the foundation board: Rivera, Peterson, Frank Pinney and new members Amanda English Oliver and Coast Gallery chef Nicolaus Balla, who I profile in the current print edition of Edible Monterey Bay.
When asked what from 2021’s festival resonated most, Wagner had a pair of thoughts: He expressed pride in how the committee made the decision in January to commit to proceed going forward with its November festival with “all the gusto possible” and he marveled at the fact he knew every single participant on BSFW’s iconic Magic Mystery Tour.
“Heartwarming to say the least,” he says.
Pinney, who was a longtime Big Sur Fire Brigade chief and has served on the board since BSFW’s infancy, was in attendance at the thank you party. He acknowledged the big fundraising number was a pleasant stunner due in part to overdue enthusiasm after COVID delays—interestingly, in 2020 BSFW was still able to raise $41,000 through online benefits—and believes it goes beyond that.
“There was a lot of pent-up demand but I think it will carry over,” he said. “The property owners who participate, the team who puts so much into it, the volunteers, the response [from attendees]…tell me this [event] is getting better and stronger.”
For more visit bigsurfoodandwine.org, email Elsa Rivera (elsa@bigsurfoodandwine.org) or Aengus Wagner (aengus@bigsurfoodandwine.org).
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, Edible Monterey Bay's managing editor, appears on "Friday Found Treasures" via KRML 94.7 every week, a little after 12pm noon. Reach him via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
