Culinary fundraiser Mama's Day returns with dine-at-home event

Host Sam "The Cooking Guy" Zien and Mama's Kitchen CEO Alberto Cortés at the 2018 Mama's Day event.

April 30, 2021 6 AM PT

After taking 2020 off due to the pandemic, the popular culinary fundraiser Mama’s Day will return on May 7 in its first dine-at-home event.

Now in its 30th year, Mama’s Day raises money each spring for Mama’s Kitchen, a San Diego nonprofit that provides free home-delivered meals to vulnerable people suffering from hunger, HIV, cancer and other critical illnesses.

Instead of the usual gourmet tastings event with dozens of local restaurant chefs at a hotel, Mama’s Day this year will be a catered affair.

Ticket-buyers paying $150 to $250 per ticket will receive a home-delivered multicourse dinner catered by Hyatt Regency La Jolla at The Aventine and a party box.

They’ll also receive access to live streaming entertainment featuring perennial host Sam “The Cooking Guy” Zien and a performance by “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” winner Chad Michaels.

The goal is to raise $85,000, which will fund 17,000 client meals. For details, visit mamaskitchen.org.

Pam Kragen

Pam Kragen is a feature writer who specializes in writing human interest, dining, theater and opera stories. She joined The San Diego Union-Tribune staff in October 2012 after 27 years at the North County Times, where she served as the Arts & Features Editor, as well as the paper’s longtime arts writer and theater/opera critic. She is the president and co-founder of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from San Diego State University and completed fellowships in theater criticism at the University of Southern California and opera/classical music criticism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She reports from the U-T’s North County office in San Marcos.

Culinary fundraiser Mama’s Day returns with dine-at-home event