Cooks Confab is Back with "School Lunch"

 
Way back in the day when I was a kid buying lunch at school was a rare treat. My parents mostly packed our lunches in brown paper bags. But I yearned to have 30 cents to buy any of the revolving choices of spaghetti, fish sticks, hot dogs, hamburgers, and macaroni and cheese. I wasn't in love with the greyish canned green beans often served with them. But I desperately wanted the brownies, cookies, and cupcakes.

Sound familiar? It wasn't good then and from the 60s onward, it's only gotten worse in the school cafeteria. But things are changing, thanks to any number of child nutrition advocates, including Michelle Obama.

Locally, child nutrition advocates include our own Cooks Confab chefs and on April 3 they're hosting a fun, delicious, and enlightening event to bring attention to the issue. Cooks Confab "School Lunch" involves all of the Cooks Confab chefs -- many of whom are concerned parents -- in partnership with local farms, ranchers, fishers, and artisans to serve "Haute Cafeteria Style Cuisine" at Fibonacci's Campus Point Bistro by Waters. The point is to demonstrate that communities can be masters of their own school lunch menus -- if they are willing to push for it.

The food. Dishes will include:

• Kitchen 1540's Paul McCabe's play on healthy Fish & Chips: Wild Striped Bass, Baked Vegetable Chips, and Tartar Sauce
• NINE-TEN's Jason Knibb's riff on Beef and Broccoli with Brown Rice
• Water's Fine Catering's Andrew Spurgin's and Martini Media's Melissa Mayer's Salad Bar, featuring produce picked that morning by kids from Fibonacci's on-site organic garden.
• A.R. Valentien's Jeff Jackson and TK Kolanko's Chicken & Local Vegetable "Pot Pie"
• Georges California Modern's Trey Foshee's Cream of Tomato Soup with Parmesan Cream & Bread Crumbs and Lentil-Barley Soup with Mint Yogurt
• Cafe Chloe's Katie Grebow's and chef/consultant Amy DiBiase's Suzie's Farm Vegetable "Lasagna" with Jidori Chicken Roulade, Handmade Focaccia and Strawberries n' Cream
• Farm House Cafe's Olivier Bioteau's Wheat "Macaroni 'n Cheese" with Carrot Turmuric Puree, Diced Vegetables and Gruyere Cheese
• Singaree's Antonio Frescia's Nathan's Natural Alpine Chicken Satay, Thai Almond Sauce, and Cucumber Relish
• Jack Fisher Confections's Cashew Nut Ice Cream Cups with Honeyed Quinoa

Plus, Snake Oil Cocktail Co.'s Ian Ward's Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice and Strawberry "Milkshake" and a selection of Housemade Beet "Vermouth," Hibiscus Extract, Raisin Reduction, Pressed Apple Foam, and Micro Radish from Saul Paniagua of Waters Bar Service.

Cooks Confab School Lunch will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Tickets are  $35 for adults and $15 for children under age 14. Proceeds will benefit Slow Food Urban San Diego's Farm-to-School project and other similar projects. You can purchase tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets. Fibonacci's is in the Golden Triangle at 10300 Campus Pointe Dr.


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Fish! A Week of Sustainability Education and Cooks Confab Deliciousness

If you like seafood, if you care about the future of seafood, the health of our oceans, and the future of our planet -- and you love great food -- the week of June 1 is going to be important to you. The Cooks Confab has joined together with Passionfish and Slow Food Urban San Diego to present several delicious and enlightening events, culminating with a big Cooks Confab dinner on June 6 at 1500 Ocean at the Hotel del Coronado.

First up is Fish! Facts. This is an appetizer reception hosted by Chef Andrew Spurgin of Waters Fine Catering, Cooks Confab, and Slow Food Urban San Diego. It will feature several Cooks Confab chefs, guest chefs, a short lecture by world renowned marine ecologist Dr. Jeremy Jackson, and a showing of "End of the Line," a documentary that examines the firsthand effects of the global love affair with fish as food that premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival.

The reception is from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Fibonacci's Campus Pointe Bistro, 10300 Campus Point Dr., SD, 92121. Tickets are only $15 and available online at brownpapertickets.com. All proceeds to go Slow Food Urban San Diego.

On June 6 is Fish! Forum from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Hotel Del. The non-partisan, multi-media organization Passionfish is hosting and engaging and educational forum called Fish! on the urgent issue of seafood and ocean sustainability. I'll be on the panel along with Tommy Gomes of Catalina Offshore Products; Kristin Goodrich, Board Member, Slow Food Urban San Diego; Martin Alberto Hall, Ph.D., Chief Scientist at the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission; Nigella Hillgarth, Ph.D., executive director of the Birch Aquarium; Don Kent, President of Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute; Logan Kock, vice president at  Santa Monica Seafood; Carl Rebstock, Executive Director of Passionfish.org (and our moderator); Robin Siegle, Esq., Director of  the Business Center at the National Conflict Resolution Center; and Andrew Spurgin, Exec. Director/Chef of Waters Fine Catering.

This is a free public event and there will be time for an audience Q&A.

Finally, dinner! Enjoy an evening of responsible, delectable seafood. Appetizers will be served from 6 to 7:30 on the lawn with a panoramic ocean view and the iconic Hotel Del as a backdrop. From 7:30 to 9 pm., enjoy a four-course dinner in the dining room. The event is preceded by our free Fish! Forum, a Socratic dialogue about sustainable fisheries. Go to the Cooks Confab site for more information and a list of the participating chefs and their dishes.

Tickets are $125 per person, which includes appetizer reception, dinner, all beverages, gratuity and tax. A portion of the ticket sales will be donated to Slow Food Urban San Diego. Make your reservations by calling 619-522-8490.

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