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No annoying relatives and excellent food? This ‘chefsgiving’ feast is something to be thankful for.

By Michele Parente
San Diego Union-Tribune
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What if your family were made up of only excellent chefs who’d prepare a gourmet Thanksgiving feast — and they won’t even sit next to you during dinner, blathering bad jokes you’ve heard since you were 6?

Now that would be something to be thankful for.

A version of that culinary Thanksgiving heaven will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 14, when eight of San Diego’s most acclaimed chefs prepare a ChefsGiving holiday feast at Provisional Kitchen, Cafe & Mercantile.

Turkey and all the fixings — plus seven kinds of dessert! — will be prepared by:

  • Brandon Sloan, chef de cuisine, Provisional Kitchen, Café & Mercantile (Truffled Beggars Turkey)
  • Anthony Wells, executive chef, Juniper & Ivy (Chestnut Stuffing)
  • Jojo Ruiz, executive chef and partner, Lionfish (“Twice Baked” Clams with Chorizo, Saffron, Soffrito, Pepper and Onion Escabeche)
  • Shane McIntyre, co-chef and partner, Herb & Wood (Coal Roasted Beets with Beet Green Gremolata, Citrus, Whipped Shaft’s Blue Cheese)
  • Tim Kolanko, executive chef, Blue Bridge Hospitality (Fall Vegetable Gratin with Squash, Celery Root, Leek, Fennel)
  • Alfred “Alfie” Szeprethy, executive chef, Pisco Rotisserie & Cevicheria (Farro Salad with Dried Cranberries, Goat Cheese, Arugula, Pecans)
  • Adrian Mendoza, executive pastry chef, Herb & Wood (Caramelized Pink Lady Apple and Rum Raisin Pie with Fennel Oat Crumble; Blackberry Pie; Chocolate and Banana Rum Cream Pie; Kalamansi and Kaffir Lime Meringue Piel; Red Kuri Squash Pie with Maple Whipped Cream and Candied Pepitas; Home-made Vanilla Bean Gelato)
  • Lori Sauer, executive pastry chef, Crafted Baked Goods (Pumpkin Cake with Apple Cider Caramel)

Dinner will be served family style, at communal tables at the stylish restaurant, which is located at the Pendry hotel in the Gaslamp.

Three wines selected to pair with the meal — Cambria Estate Winery Julia’s Vineyard Pinot Noir, Katherine’s Vineyard Chardonnay, and Julia’s Vineyard Rose, all from Santa Maria — are included in the ticket price.

Banter will also be served up: when not in the kitchen, the chefs will meet with guests, as will Julia Jackson, co-proprietor of Cambria Estate Wines. And everybody’s favorite dinner companion,Troy Johnson, the food critic, writer and “Guy’s Grocery Games” judge, will host the evening. Let’s just hope he saves any bad jokes for his own family.

The ChefsGiving dinner is $145, which includes a $25 donation to the San Diego Food Bank. Get tickets here. 6:30-9:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 14. Provisional Kitchen, Cafe & Mercantile, 425 Fifth Ave., downtown San Diego.

michele.parente@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @sdeditgirl

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Michele Parente

Michele Parente is the Dining, Wine + Lifestyle reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune. Her areas of expertise include the Valle de Guadalupe wine region, fashion, television, women’s issues and coverage of aging, such as the impact of Alzheimer’s and dementia and family caregiving. Michele is the former Sunday and features editor, where she oversaw profiles, special projects, such as the Legacy of WWII and in-depth reports on a variety of topics. She joined the U-T in 2003, supervising coverage areas that have included features, fashion, TV, Food, Consumer Health and Arts & Entertainment. Previously, Michele was the assistant features editor at The Oregonian, in Portland, as well as the Portland City Hall reporter. She spent 10 years at New York Newsday as a reporter on the crime, education, state legislature and New York City Hall beats. She was part of a team that won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting. A native New Yorker, Michele received her B.A. in political science and Italian Literature at UC Berkeley. In 1980, she studied at L’Università di Urbino, in Italy. One of her life’s goals is to make her way through each of the world’s great wine regions.

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