Cal Spirit 30- A Food Event with Heart

The American Cancer Society put on the 30th California Spirit fundraiser at Sony Pictures Studio in Culver City on July 19th, 2015. Festivities began with an exciting evening that includes sampling from the best chefs, wineries, and mixologists in Los Angeles, silent and live auctions, live entertainment, and a raffle for a 2015 Ford Fusion Energy from the Southern California Ford Dealers.

 

The much-awaited evening features food from Los Angeles’ quintessential bistro Bouchon Beverly Hills with chef/ proprietor Thomas Keller in attendance, hand crafted cocktails created by renowned mixologist Julian Cox, and the opportunity to sample from the kitchens of the newest additions Catch & Release, Redbird, and ICDC. Together with Barrel & Ashes, chi SPACCA, Lemonade, Knuckle & Claw, Picca, Tavern, A Sweet Savory, and wine and spirits from Malibu Vineyards, Mystic Hills Vineyard, The Wine House, Green bar Distillery, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and LVP Sangria the event will provide guests with a taste of the city’s finest offerings.

 

California Spirit 30 was hosted by James Beard Award-winning chef Rocco DiSpirito. The New York Times bestselling author of Cook Your Butt Off!, DiSpirito appears as the Healthy Food Coach on ABC’s hit series Extreme Weight Loss and is the founder of an innovative food delivery service (www.roccodisprito.com). In addition, the honorary co-chairs at the event were Sherry Lansing, Phil Rosenthal, and Bill Chait.

 

Chefs such as Lemonade Restaurant Group, Chef Alan Jackson prepared Moroccan couscous, Washington cherries, French feta pistachio. White nectarine, Persian cucumber, English pea, watercress, mint. Sesame ginger braised duck rainbow chard, cashew, pineapple, coriander. Pickled nopales, jicama, peppers, blue corn tortilla, corn, lime. While Chef Josh Drew of Picca prepared Ceviche Kokoda with Sea Bass, Shrimp, Sea Urchin Leche de Tigre and Coconut Cream which had the crowd wanting more. However Chef Neal Fraser of Redbird had the crowd overjoyed with a Grilled Pork Chop with Apricot Mostardo & Hazelnut dish. But the crowd of Cal Spirit 30 was head over heels for Chef Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Beverly Hills Raw Bar filled with some of the best bivalve delights. Our winning bites of the event came from a tie between Chef Jason Neroni of Catch & Release and Chef Chloe Dahl & Chef Nikki Booth of Knuckle & Claw with their Lobster rolls. Party Patrons were drooling over their lobster butter drenched meat of goodness, packed with flavor and perfection.

For more than 100 years, the American Cancer Society has been leading the fight to end cancer. With the generous support from millions of people, the American Cancer Society has been able to translate their research findings into action and by doing so, has seen a 20% decline in US cancer death rates since the early 1990s. The California Spirit 30 fundraiser aimed to raise funds to continue to support incredible research that leads to finding a cure for cancer over a spectacular evening filled with fantastic food, wine, and spirits from Los Angeles’ renowned chefs, top mixologists and premiere California vintners.

Here is who was there, and they served!

WHO WAS INVOLVED:

FEATURED CHEFS

Lemonade Restaurant Group

Chef Alan Jackson

Picca

Chef Josh Drew

Redbird

Chef Neal Fraser

Tavern

Chef de Cuisine Amy Deadrick

Wolfgang Puck Catering

Barrel and Ashes

Chef de Cuisine Michael Kahikina

Bouchon Beverly Hills

Chef Thomas Keller

Catch & Release

Chef Jason Neroni

chi SPACCA

Chef Ryan DeNicola

Knuckle & Claw

Chef Chloe Dahl & Chef Nikki Booth

CRAFT COCKTAILS

Mixologist – Julian Cox

DESSERT

ICDC

Pastry Chef Mariah Swan

A Sweet Savory

Owner/Pastry Chef Lauren Lowstan

PURVEYORS

& IN-KIND DONORS

Malibu Vineyards

Mystic Hills Vineyard

The Art of Tea

The Wine House

Tito’s Handmade Vodka

Bootleggers Brewery

Dr. Jekyll’s

Greenbar Distillery

Icelandic Water

LVP Sangria

*Restaurants & Purveyors as of Print Date

INGREDIENTS OF WHAT WAS SERVED

Spacca-

Porcini Rubbed Short Ribs with Salsa Verde and Scallions.

Redbird-

Grilled Pork Chop with Apricot Mostardo & Hazelnuts.

Art of Tea-

Strawberry Mint Cucumber and Chamomile Clementine Spritzer.

Bouchon-

Island Creek MA Oysters, Penn Cove Mussels, Coromandel NZ Oysters, Sweet Shrimp, White Albacore Tuna

Barrel & Ashes-

Smoked Beef Brisket and Watermelon Salad.

Tavern-

Thai Inspired Carrot Broth with Coconut Black Rice, Sambal and Diver Scallop.

Knuckle + Claw-

Lobster Rolls with Fresh Knuckle and Claw Meat on Split Top Rockenwagner Bakery Parker Rolls.

Lemonade-

Moroccan couscous, Washington cherries, French feta pistachio. White nectarine, Persian cucumber, English pea, watercress, mint. Sesame ginger braised duck rainbow chard, cashew, pineapple, coriander. Pickled nopales, jicama, peppers, blue corn tortilla, corn, lime.

Catch & Release-

Bay Scallops on the half shell, Catch & Release Lobster Roll

Picca-

Ceviche Kokoda with Sea Bass, Shrimp, Sea Urchin Leche de Tigre and Coconut Cream.

Impulsion Trade Wine

Chateau d’ AIGULHE Querre

Chateau Lestage

Tage De Lestage

Pavilion Haut- Lestage

ICDC

Vanilla Cream Cheese Donut

Salt and Pepper Caramel Mini Donut

Mayan Chocolate Mini Donut

Julian Cox Drink

Greenbar slow hand white whiskey

Greenbar organic true vanilla vodka

Cherry herring & cherry bitters

Lemon

photo credit: Paul Hebert