Eleven of San Diego’s top chefs are planning to combine their talents for a two-day fund-raiser this fall.
The chefs have each cooked at the James Beard House, a well-respected culinary center in New York City.
The fund-raiser, which will benefit the Beard House’s scholarship foundation, is being hosted by the Marine Room’s Bernard Guillas, said Pam Wischkaemper, who handles promotions for the La Jolla restaurant.
Along with Guillas, the participating chefs are Tom Atkins of J. Taylor’s of Del Mar, Riko Bartolome of 150 Grand Caf & #233;, Jean-Michel Diot of Tapenade, Tom Dowling of the Rancho Bernardo Inn, and Jack Fisher of Azzura Point.
They also include Trey Foshee of George’s at the Cove, Amiko Gubbins of Parallel 33, Matthew VanMarter of the Hotel del Coronado’s Prince of Wales restaurant, Michael Stebner of Nine-Ten and Martin Woesle of Mille Fleurs.
The Beard fund-raisers are done from time to time, with a host chef inviting chefs from other cities who have also presented their work at the center, Wischkaemper said.
After returning from doing a Beard dinner promoting the San Diego restaurant scene with Dowling and Bartolome, Guillas came up with the idea of having the event solely with San Diego chefs.
These events tend to generate attention from the national food media as well, and Guillas and Wischkaemper thought it was a good idea to keep San Diego the focus.
“We decided, why publicize other chefs when we have great chefs here,” Wischkaemper said.
They held a meeting with the chefs, and all of them wanted to participate , so many that the event was split into two nights. The chefs are split into teams, and each chef will cook a course on their night.
Since then, the fund-raiser has been dubbed “Gastronomically Correct” and the marketing department at the Hotel del Coronado designed a program and invitation using comical pictures of the chefs, courtesy of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau’s promotional campaign about local dining.
According to Wischkaemper, the Beard House staff was particularly pleased with the invitation and the San Diego event.
The fund-raiser takes place Oct. 14 at the Marine Room and Oct.15 at the Hotel del’s Prince of Wales. Not including tax and gratuity, each dinner costs $125 per person. The two restaurants are taking the reservations for their night.
