FOOD FASHIONISTA

Saks Fifth Avenue & St Vincent Meals on Wheels - Beverly Hills

Last night, legendary retailer Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills, teamed up with St. Vincent Meals on Wheels and Miss Lilly’s Trading Company for a festive gathering filled with food, friends and a store full of the most exquisite beauty and fashion. The evening started off with a celebratory VIP reception featuring culinary temptations prepared by several Los Angeles chefs including Mark Gold of Eva, Alex Becker of Nobu, and Michael Fiorelli of mar’sel at Terranea Resort in Palos Verdes. They, along with nearly 40 other L.A. chefs are featured in the recently released Cart For A Cause Cookbook, whose sales benefit St. Vincent Meals on Wheels. 

                   Cart for a Cause Cookbook - the perfect gift!

    Lettuce Wraps by Chef Alex Becker of Nobu, West Hollywood

I was honored to be an official Saks Fifth Avenue guest blogger, and although I was completely in my happy place...shopping couture, sipping cocktails, sharing conversation and sampling cuisine, what made the evening all the more sweet and special, was that it was to support two extremely important causes that I greatly believe in. During the event, Saks donated a portion of its proceeds to St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, the country’s largest, privately funded senior nutrition program, as well as to Miss Lilly’s Trading Company for their pet program, which provides much-needed food for seniors’ pets.

                 FENDI Python Peep Toes at SAKS

Pisco Porton w/Serrano Chili, Grand Marnier, Star Anise, Pineapple

                         Chef Mark Gold's Tofu with Caviar

Guests were treated to hypnotic, hip-shaking DJ beats and specialty holiday cocktails by Pisco Portón, alongside a coterie of fanciful “specialists,” including a lipstick reader, glitter tattoo artist, a renowned psychic and more.  Miss Lilly’s Trading Company also offered their beautiful cookie gift tins as well as their exclusive polo and tennis shirts, just for this special evening. Junk Food Clothing was also in attendance with the first ever QR code t-shirt which supports feeding with fashion.

       Christina Rushing (Saks), Chef Mark Gold, Mika Takeuchi

                              Bonnie Star Jewely at SAKS

“We’re passionate about supporting St. Vincent Meals on Wheels and the vital work they do on behalf of the hungry and homebound in our community. The partnership between Saks and St. Vincent Meals on Wheels underscores the message that during this celebratory time of year, people have the opportunity to be generous while enjoying their holiday shopping, stated Saks Fifth Avenue Vice President, General Manager John Cruz.

                        Foie Gras Macarons by Chef Michael Fiorelli

                      Fashion for a Great Cause - The Best!

                      Jimmy Choo iPad Case at SAKS - Drool!

“We are delighted to partner again with Saks to address senior hunger, proving once more that Fashion Feeds. We're also very grateful for the support of the Cart For A Cause Cookbook chefs during this season of giving and celebration and thrilled to have some of them join us at Saks,” noted St. Vincent Meals on Wheels Foundation Executive Director Daryl Twerdahl.

I say cheers and a very happy holiday season to that!

Even if you couldn't be there in person, you could still join the conversation, by supporting your local Meals on Wheels, or by purchasing a Cart for a Cause Cookbook.

 

For more Saks Fifth Avenue, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels event photos (which I'll be adding later today), visit our Food Fashionista Facebook Page.

 

More info on the generous people involved:

St. Vincent Meals On Wheels, the largest privately-funded organization of its kind in the country, serves over 4,700 meals a day, 365 days a year. The meals are prepared daily in the 16,000 square foot, state-of-the-art kitchen located at the Saint Vincent Medical Center Campus.  Annually, over 1.1 million meals are prepared and delivered to people in Los Angeles, including homebound senior citizens, disabled and terminally ill patients and homeless adults and children.

Miss Lilly’s Trading Company merges founder Bebe Flynn’s passions for baking, animal rights advocacy and entrepreneurism.  Bebe learned while volunteering with St. Vincent Meals on Wheels that 80% of seniors who own pets share their meals with them, often feeding their pets before themselves.  A portion of Miss Lilly's proceeds provides seniors with food for their pets. Miss Lilly herself is a King Charles Spaniel mix, whom Bebe rescued and loves so much that she decided to name her company after her. In addition to Saks Fifth Avenue, Miss Lilly’s cookies are available at Whole Foods and Bristol Farms, among other upscale retailers. Miss Lilly's also sponsors polo teams and their polo and tennis shirts will be on sale at SAKS in limited quantities. 

Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the world's preeminent specialty retailers, is renowned for its superlative American and international designer collections, its expertly edited assortment of handbags, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics and gifts, and the first-rate fashion expertise and exemplary client service of its Associates.  Today, Saks operates 46 full-line stores in 22 states, 5 licensed stores in the Middle East and 2 licensed stores in Mexico City, 57 Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH stores and saks.com, the company's online store.

Cart for a Cause Cookbook - Recipes from Los Angeles Chefs for a Cause

Just in time for the holiday gifting – and entertaining - season, the Cart For A Cause Cookbook will make its debut November 30, 2011. Featuring nearly 40 of Los Angeles’ top chefs, including established as well as rising stars, the book boasts Dana Hursey’s stunning photos of each chef and one of the signature recipes they prepared while volunteering their food, time, staff and love on the Cart For A Cause mobile food truck.

A sampling of chefs included in the cookbook are Suzanne Goin, Joe Miller, Susan Feniger, Alex Becker, Jon Shook & Vinny Dotola and Ray Garcia.

THE TASTE Los Angeles - Burgers & Beer and Art of Mixing

 
We are thrilled to have contributing guest author, Kyra Davis of the Sophie Katz Series share her experience from opening night of THE TASTE.

 

 

When I first heard of Los Angeles Times and Food & Wine magazine’s THE TASTE I didn’t know what to expect. I knew it kicked off with their Burgers & Beer event and...well, really, how can you go wrong with an event named after the two things that have made this country great? But the name was actually a bit misleading. It probably should have been called, Burgers & Beer & Every Other Wonderful Thing You Would Ever Want To Devour Extravaganza. From foie gras to fine cheeses to wine to decadent chocolates and assorted baked goods, the Burgers & Beer event was enough to make you think you had died and gone to culinary heaven. The only clue that you might not have reached an ethereal plane is that your human body simply doesn’t have the ability to eat everything being offered. Seriously, by the end of that event my eyes were still lusting after Wilshire Restaurant’s Roasted Pork Slider (complete with apple chutney, arugula, Dijon and aioli) and STK’s BBQ short rib sliders (served with sour cream, chives, roasted corn salad and their house made BBQ sauce). And although I knew that, in order to save room, I should only have had one taste of Waterloo & City’s chicken liver foie gras, stopping at one bite proved to be a fairly impossible task. The drinks from Cupcake Wine, Justin Vineyards and Peroni helped me forget about how far off my normal diet plan I had gone.

 
                                   STK's BBQ'd Shortrib Slider

 

 

                 Cider & Pork Slider from Wilshire Restaurant 

 
                           Foie Gras from Waterloo & City

 
                                     Kobe Burger from Simon LA

 
                      Food Fashionista hearts Burgers

 
                              Green & Black's Organic Chocolate

 
              The Cake Mama's Chocolate & Beer Cupcakes

 

And even if the beer and wine served at the Burgers & Beer event weren’t enough to help me throw caution to the wind the spirits served at the second event of the night, appropriately titled The Art of Mixing, would have done the trick. Anyone who knows me or who has ever read my books knows I have a fondness for vodka and this festival, hosted at the gorgeous Paramount Studios Backlot, was serving some of the most amazing vodka I’ve ever tasted. Beluga Vodka was one of my favorites, served with Lounge Attire Cranberries which are naturally sweet, dark red in color and grown exclusively in the Northwest. Normally I don’t wax poetic about cranberries but honestly, these were the perfect enhancement to the miniature Beluga vodka shots they were serving, making the drink flavorful, slightly sweet and not even a little syrupy.  But there were lots of other drinks to get excited about, including the martinis served by Chopin, the wine served by Herzog Wine Cellars and the Skinny Girl Cocktails (relatively low calorie drinks that I like to pretend make up for everything I tasted at Essential Chocolate Desserts and The Cake Mamas booths).  And the band, Mariachi El Bronx just made everything all the more festive and fun.  

 

 

                                        Beluga Vodka from Russia

 
                                           Mariachi El Bronx           photo credit: tiffany rose
 

                                      The Studios at Paramount Lot
 

                                   Karlsson's Potatoes + Vodka

 
                    Cafe Hoy's Assorted Agua Frescas at Art of Mixing
 
                             Bar Pintxo's Seafood Paella

 

And what’s the perfect finish for a night of total decadence? Shaved ice, flavored perfectly with gin, lemon, blackberry and basil (a flavor combination otherwise known as Bramble). How can you not LOVE that?

 

 

 

All in all it was worth every wonderfully sinful bite.  I can’t wait until the next event.

 

 

                 Kyra Davis on the Red Carpet at The Taste

 

You can learn more about Kyra and her books at KyraDavis.com

You can still purchase tickets for this weekend's events at THE TASTE.

 

Check back for many more upcoming photos and features of THE TASTE.

The TASTE - Food & Wine Festival - Los Angeles

 
 
For all you LA food lovers (and I know there are MANY out there), leave Labor Day weekend open, because The TASTE Los Angeles is about to take over. With unique culinary events in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, and Downtown, there is truly something for everyone.

Project Open Hand's Dessert First Event 8/14 - San Francisco

 

Some of the Bay Area’s most talented pastry chefs will assemble at the InterContinental San Francisco for Project Open Hand's Eleventh Annual Dessert First: Don't Delay Pleasure. In addition to delectable desserts, there will also be hors d’oeuvres, wine, port, signature cocktails and silent and live auctions. There will also be a VIP reception from 4-5 p.m. and 100% of the proceeds go to Project Open Hand.

100% of the proceeds from Dessert First will benefit Project Open Hand, a nutrition-services agency that provides meals with love to people living with HIV/AIDS, the homebound critically ill, and seniors.

The following Bay Area pastry chefs will be preparing decadent dessert creations for your indulgence:

 

Patti Dellamonica-Bauler | One Market Restaurant

Devin Alper | American Cupcake

Elizabeth Falkner | Citizen Cake and Orson

Sara Spearin | Dynamo Donuts & Coffee

Terri Wu | Farallon

Francis Ang | Fifth Floor

Robert Hac | FIVE Restaurant and Bar    

Jessica Miller | Grand Café

Jake Godby | Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream

Daniel Corey | InterContinental San Francisco

Pascal Rigo | La Boulange

Janine Fong | Meritage at the Claremont

Ethan Howard | Murray Circle

Suzanne LaFleur | Perbacco

Michelle Polzine | Range

Tim Nugent | Scala’s Bistro

 

Purchase TICKETS for Project Open Hand's Dessert First HERE

SF Chefs 2011 Auction - Bid Online Now

 

Can't believe it's already been a couple years since the inaugural SF Chefs Festival launched in San Francisco's Union Square. With the Bay Area being a celebrated international dining-destination, this event was long overdue...and an immediate success.

As food lovers descend on the City by the Bay for the third installment of this highly anticipated culinary event, don't feel left behind. You too can be a part of the SF Chefs excitement by bidding on a number of delectable items benefiting the GGRA Scholarships. The GGRA (Golden Gate Restaurant Association) is a fantastic non-profit industry association that was established back in 1936. Since 1968, the GGRA scholarship fund has provided talented young people the opportunity to be a part of the industry with much-needed scholarships and mentoring.  

New York Cooks for Tohoku, Japan - Big Chefs with Big Hearts

 

On a daily basis, my inbox is jammed with quite a number of press releases, pitches... and like most emails, there are many (not all, folks relax) that classify as spam-box worthy, and others which I don't immediately have time to get to (sorry, the truth). And then there are those, that truly make you stop, put aside the blackberry, close the facebook window and digest with 100% focus knowing that this is something that must be shared. This was one of those times. Yes, I am originally from Japan, so this may touch a part of me in a slightly personal way, but the reality is that as a human, how can it not strike a chord when you see selfless goodwill shared. I decided to share the whole press release since every detail and every person deserves to be mentioned in this post.

 

“Our goal is to provide some comfort, encouragement and a little something special,” explains Daniel Boulud, with the understanding of just how meaningful a special meal can be.

 

 

NY Cooks for Tohoku
Goodwill Lunch by NY Chefs in Kamaishi, Japan
July 3, 2011

 

Show Dogs - Rescue Dog Days - Help a Charity + $20 Unlimited bites + drinks -San Francisco

 

"Show Dogs Chefs’ Gayle Pirie and John Clark are partnering with six San Francisco non-profit organizations to launce “Rescue Dog Days,” a bi-monthly event series starting on Thursday, April 28, 2011. Each event will raise awareness and funds for a different local charity, while offering guests two hours of unlimited beer, wine and bites.

Raise the Flag at Five - San Francisco

 

Voices & Views from Bake Sale for Japan

Here is a touching slide show from this past Saturday's Bake Sale for Japan for NGO Peace Winds Japan.  In Los Angeles alone where the photos above were taken, over $15,000 was collected, while nationwide, over $120,000 was raised. Next time you think that your donation of $10 towards a bag of chocolate chip walnut cookies and lemon bars aren't making much of a difference, THINK AGAIN! Every positive small act makes an impact and difference like you wouldn't even believe.  

For more information on Bake Sale for Japan and how you can donate, visit HERE