Cast your vote for the “People’s Choice” this Saturday!
Tickets are still available for this weekend’s much-awaited Big Sur Chanterelle Cook-Off, which will benefit the nonprofit Big Sur Health Center.
The event will get going on Friday, Feb. 24, with a party on the Restaurant at Ventana’s terrace, featuring local wineries and chefs and the music of Hot Box Harry. Tickets for the night, which will run from 6:30 to 9:30pm, are $20.
Tickets are also still available for three events on Saturday, beginning with the Grand Tasting Cook-Off at The Lodge at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.
At the Cook-Off, you’ll get to try the inventive competition entries created with local chanterelles by area chefs, vote for your favorites and meet the official panel of judges, which will include Margo True, food editor of Sunset magazine and other notable food writers and cookbook authors. Local beers will be served. The Cook-Off will run from 1 to 3pm, with a ticket price of $50.
Back at the Ventana Inn & Spa, the Gallery at Ventana will host the free Art and Syrah, a chance to taste local Syrahs while experiencing art and fashion runway walks and a trunk show. The art show and tasting will be held from 3 to 6pm.
And finally, a highlight of the weekend is sure to be the Awards Dinner, for which Ventana Executive Chef Truman Jones will pull out all the stops with a five-course chanterelle extravaganza. The menu will include a cream of chanterelle soup, chanterelle-crusted Central coast halibut and chanterelle bread pudding. See details at www.pelicannetwork.net/2012_Chanterelle_Awards_Dinner_Menu.pdf.
Wine pairings for the dinner, which will be begin a 6pm and will cost $150, will be provided by Chesebro Wines, Heller Estates Organic Vineyards, Parsonage Family Winery, Pelerin Wines and Talbott Vineyards.
A mushroom walk and talk on Saturday is sold out, as are all-inclusive weekend package tickets for the general public. But all-inclusive tickets may be obtained with reservations at Ventana Inn & Spa.
For the full program, see www.pelicannetwork.net/2012_Big_Sur_Chanterelle_Event_Schedule.pdf.
Tickets are available at: http://bigsurchanterelle.eventbrite.com/.
For more on local chanterelles and the foragers and chefs who covet them, go to http://www.ediblecommunities.com/montereybay/online-magazine/winter-2011/winter-foraging.htm.—Staff reports
About the author
At Edible Monterey Bay, our mission is to celebrate the local food culture of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties, season by season. We believe in sustainability, and we believe everyone has a right to healthful, clean and affordable food. We think knowing where our food comes from is powerful, and we hope our magazine, website and newsletters inspire readers to get to know and support our local growers, fishers, chefs, vintners and food artisans.
