Time Again to Celebrate the Craft!

This is the food event I most look forward to annually. Celebrate the Craft, held this Sunday, Sept. 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Lodge at Torrey Pines, is everything a sublime food orgy should be. It has breadth--but it still feels intimate. It brings together the best local chefs and artisans to showcase the regionally grown ingredients they cook with, and highlights local vintners. And, you dine and drink just where San Diegans ought to--overlooking the Pacific.

Celebrate the Craft is a project of love organized by The Lodge's Chef Jeff Jackson. This is its 10th year and will feature close to two dozen of our region's top culinary mavens:

Paul Arias of The Fishery
Pete Balistreri of Tender Greens
Olivier Bioteau of Farm House Cafe
Daniel Boling of The Grill at Torrey Pines
Jennifer Costa of The Lodge at Torrey Pines
Jack Fisher of Jack Fisher Confections
James Foran of Grossmont College
Trey Foshee of George's at the Cove
Antonio Friscia of Gaijin, Stingaree, and Campine Catering
Jesus Gonzalez of Cups La Jolla
Matt Gordon of Urban Solace and Solace and the Moonlight Lounge
Christian Graves of JSix
Katie Grebow of Cafe Chloe
Patrick Haymann of Brandt Beef
Jason Knibb of NineTen
Brian La Bonte of MIHO Gastrotruck
Javier Plascencia of Romesco
Carl Schroeder of Market
Brian Sinnott, chef at large
Andrew Spurgin, chef consultant and event architect
Monica Szepesy, Q'ero

Paired with the chefs will be Catalina Offshore Products, Aniata Cheese, Bread & Cie, Crows Pass Farms, Griffin Farm, Liberty Ducks, Suzie's Farm, Windrose Farm, and a host of others, as well a variety of local vintners.

Tickets are $75 per person and can purchased online here.

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San Diego Foodstuff Miscellany: The Bread and Cheese Edition

• Share Our Strenth’s Great American Bake Sale. Childhood hunger in America is a travesty—but we can do something about it! Share Our Strength is holding its fourth Great American Bake Sale this summer to raise money for local organizations that work to increase participation by low-income children in summer and after-school feeding programs. The funds also support nutrition education programs for low-income families.

How does it work? Mobilize your community to hold a bake sale—you and your kids know how to do that! Go to www.greatamericanbakesale.org to get more information and register your sale. They’ll send you a poster and tips for your sale. Then after you’ve had your bake sale send the money you raised to:

Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale
P.O. Box 75203
Baltimore, MD 21275-5203

If you’d just like to donate to the cause, send a check to the same address or call l (800) 761-4227.

• From Aniata to Venissimo. Hats off to Martyna and Bob Stonebrook for bringing back cheese to San Diego in 2001. Aniata Cheese Co. has been a wonderful addition to the region’s culinary repertoire. The Stonebrooks just announced that they’ve sold the shop in Del Mar's Flower Hill Mall to Gina and Roger Freize of Venissimo Cheese in Mission Hills so they can become wholesaler/distributors (known, of course, as Aniata Cheese Co.). So, effective Sept. 1, we now have a small chain of cheese shops in San Diego.

According to Gina, “This just really brings us one step closer to realizing our vision: to share the goodness and glory of cheese while building the brightest cheese retailer in the world! (Baby steps, right?) The beauty of this deal is that Aniata wanted to build its wholesale business, so now we can be assured of getting the world's greatest cheeses from them. It's such a great partnership...”

What’s next? Fingers crossed, downtown San Diego. Gina and Roger have their eyes on you for a third shop.

• Celebrate the Craft. Head over to the Lodge at Torrey Pines Sept. 20 to 23 for a weekend celebration of regionally grown ingredients, innovative cooking and winemaking—plus a little art on the side. Celebrate the Craft is in its fourth year of feting great food artisans in California, and this year has added “The Torrey Pines Plein Air Invitational” to showcase open air painters and their take on the landscape of the Torrey Pines State Reserve.

This year’s events will include a Saturday picnic in the park to watch the Plein Air artists do their thing, a Saturday night reception and art auction, a Sunday afternoon picnic with food stations to sample products and a Sunday evening family-style supper featuring dishes prepared with local ingredients.

Go to www.celebratethecraft.com for more information and to buy tickets.

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