2017 Big Sur Foragers Festival Announces
Grand Chef Dinner On January 15

Chef-host Tim Wood Joins Forces With Bay Area Chef/Restaurateur Rodney Worth

NEW — La Balena Will Host a
Special Truffle Dinner Fundraiser January 13th

NEW – New Market Partners Announced

The Big Sur Foragers Festival may have changed the location of its annual Grand Chef Dinner for 2017, but the event’s culinary star power remains intact.

With a resort enhancement project underway at Ventana Big Sur, the festival moved its spectacular wine dinner to sister resort Carmel Valley Ranch, which was just named the No. 1 resort in Northern California in the Conde Nast Traveler 2016 Readers’ Choice Awards. Tim Wood, executive chef of Carmel Valley Ranch and the driving force behind its award-winning Valley Kitchen Restaurant, will co-host the January 15 event along with high-profile chef and restaurateur Rodney Worth, who owns six restaurants in the San Francisco East Bay and The Pear Southern Bistro in downtown Napa. These two culinary contemporaries have much in common, as Wood and Worth each carry out a farm-to-table approach using local, sustainable ingredients, and are passionate supporters of sustainability initiatives including the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program.

An intimate forage-inspired feast paired with incredible wines, the multi-course dinner from Chefs Wood and Worth begins at 6 p.m., and seating is extremely limited. Early-bird tickets on Eventbrite cost $150 if purchased before November 30 ($175 beginning December 1).
New Friday Night Dinner Added for January 13th, 2017

Pamper your palette for a great cause with a gourmet meal benefiting the Big Sur Health Center on Friday, Jan. 13, at La Balena Carmel, an authentic Italian restaurant on Junipero Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

The Big Sur Health Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, was founded in September 1979 through a local, grass-roots effort to provide quality, comprehensive medical care to all in Big Sur, regardless of ability to pay.

This very special dinner, part of the Big Sur Foragers Festival, will feature a five-course meal, lovingly prepared with wild mushrooms and black and white Italian Alba truffles, that were gathered during a recent three-week trip to Italy by La Balena owners Anna and Emanuele Bartolini.

Wines donated by Bernardus Winery and Chappellet Wines will be served with each course.

A vegetarian option is available for the $175-per-person dinner. Reservations are required for the 6:30 p.m. event, which will be limited to 30 people. To reserve a spot, see our Event Brite .

Additional New Events For 2017 Include:

A Friday night winemaker dinner series will be held at select restaurants throughout Monterey County. Will’s Fargo Restaurant + Bar in Carmel Valley and Alvarado Street Brewery and Grill in Monterey will each donate 10 percent. The Big Sur River Inn will hold a forager-themed brunch, also donating a percentage of profits to the event.

A vendor’s market will take place following the Fungus Face Off Saturday, January 14th from 1-4 p.m. Meet the local artisans during the Face Off, then shop at the market from 4-5:30 p.m. Each vendor-partner will donate a portion of their sales to the Big Sur Health Center.
Participants include:
Carmel Honey Company: Jake Reisdorf’s fifth-grade report on bees developed into a successful business model with a non-profit component. Meet young Jake and his mom Becky as they detail the wonders of honeybees.
The Quail and Olive: Board-certified cardiologist Dr. Stephen Brabeck long recognized the health benefits of olive oil so he started a successful local business centered around a California olive oil experience.
Salt Roots Soap Company: Meet Stephanie Wise, who started this unique artisan company with her friend Shani Fridrich. Their soaps are handmade in small batches, which creates unique beauty in the variations of design, texture and color.
Big Sur Sea Salt: Anna Linden runs this new startup, taking advantage of the natural bounty that comes from pristine seawater along the Big Sur Coast.
Just added Moss Botanicals will be joining the market.
Only a couple seats left! Join us for a special evening at Hyatt Carmel Highlands. Executive chef Chad Minton and the culinary team will create a three-course meal paired with wines from Bonny Doon Vineyard. The evening will begin with a reception of passed appetizers, wines from Bonny Doon and live music from Dino Vera from 6:30-7 p.m. At 7 p.m. enjoy a three-course dinner in the legendary wine room. Meet the culinary team and representatives from Bonny Doon Vineyard! There are only 24 seats available. Tickets are $175 per person and can be purchased through Event Brite

Back by Popular Demand:

An exclusive Friday night dinner at Sierra Mar restaurant at Post Ranch Inn with a special menu and a unique opportunity to enjoy wines from their award-winning wine cellar. This event is limited to 14 people.

Carmel Valley Ranch will also host the Foragers Festival’s popular Fungus Face-Off on Saturday, January 14, in a beautiful tented setting on the resort’s Pete Dye-designed golf course. This popular event sells out early. There are 250 available tickets, priced at $65 per person.

Fungus Face Off Winery and Brewery Partners Include:
* Holman Ranch
* Mesa Del Sol
* Bernardus
* McIntyre Vineyards,
* Chappellet
* Twisted Roots
* Chesebro Wines
* DeTierra Vineyards
* Morgan Winery
* Bonny Doon Vineyards
* Filipponi Ranch Cellars
* Firestone Walker Brewing Company
* Belgian Pacific
* Blair Winery
* Alvarado Street
* Mad Otter Ale

Fungus Face Off Chef and Restaurant Partners Include:
* Chef Tim Wood, Carmel Valley Ranch
* Chef Matt Glazer, Glazer Food and Beverage
* Chef Chad Minton, Hyatt Carmel Highlands
* Chef Soerke Peters, Basil
* Chef Angela Tamura, Peppoli
* Chef Cy Yontz, Rio Grill
* Chef Todd Fisher, Tarpy’s Roadhouse
* Pastry Chef Ben Spungin, Post Ranch
* The Culinary Team at Alvarado Street Brewery
* Quail and Olive
* Carmel Honey Company
* Big Sur Sea Sale
* Salt Roots Soap Company
* Moss Botanicals

Two foraging walks led by Steve Copeland and his expert team from Big Sur Guides. An easy “Wild Mushroom Walk and Talk” at Pfeiffer State Park and a nearby intermediate walk. This year, both hikes will be held on Sunday. There are 30 spaces available per walk. Tickets are $60 per person.

For event details and venue information, visit http://www.bigsurforagersfestival.org or follow on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/bigsurforagersfestival.

Tickets can be purchased at EventBrite.
Big Sur Health Center | 46896 Hwy One | Big Sur | CA | 93920
http://www.BigSurHealthCenter.org

Big Sur Health Center, 46896 Hwy One, Big Sur, CA 93920

A reminder from our local Sheriff, Jesse Villasensor:

“With the Holiday weekends fast approaching, traveling and camping will be ramping up again. Please take time to plan your trip in the Big Sur area. Camp spots are limited and camping in non designated areas are prohibited. Deputies will be issuing citations. Call ahead of time for availability. Below is a link to the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce for lodging and dining.

http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org”

(Note the ticket on the windshield.)

I have been trying to load my usual Veterans’ Day photo all day, but to no avail. I have been thinking of all of you and the sacrifices made today.

And Lacey turned me on to a sweet video clip, remarkably a commercial,  but one which expresses something we all need this week. If you can spare a minute, go look at:

Keep Walking America

“This land was made for you and me” by Ardo Guthrie.

And from Garrison Keiller: ““Back to real life. I went up to my home town the other day and ran into my gym teacher, Stan Nelson, looking good at 96. He commanded a landing craft at Normandy on June 6, 1944, and never said a word about it back then, just made us do chin-ups whether we wanted to or not. I saw my biology teacher Lyle Bradley, a Marine pilot in the Korean War, still going bird-watching in his 90s. I was not a good student then, but I am studying both of them now. They have seen it all and are still optimistic.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/can-fracking-bans-succeed-in-oil-and-gas-country-all-eyes-are-on-monterey-1478183036

Can Fracking Bans Succeed in Oil and Gas Country? All Eyes Are on Monterey – WSJ

From a constant reader in North Dakota: “Today’s WSJ article about fracking in Monterey County caught my eye. The Bakken oil play propelled ND to the country’s #2 oil producer, second only to Texas. The Bakken is so successful entirely because of fracking; without fracking, Bakken oil is not accessible economically. Yet even here in pro-oil country, fracking has become controversial because of its impact on water.

Each well uses over 1 million gallons of water to frack. The water has to come from somewhere economically accessible, and the oil industry has engaged in controversial, highly questionable practices to gain access to that much water, a scarce resource in this area. One practice has been to buy off ranchers, pitting neighbor against neighbor. Once fracked, the ‘brine’ residue then must be disposed. It is highly salty; and it and the filtering equipment used in the fracking process are contaminated with above legal levels of radioactive waste. Salt water disposal wells, the source of the alarming earthquake activity in Oklahoma, have sprung up around the area, themselves replete with problems ranging from contamination to leaks to bankruptcy, leaving county taxpayers holding the bag. Radioactive waste disposal has been a source of continual problems in ND, numerous incidents of illegal dumping, costing counties multi-millions in clean-up costs. The State has dealt with this problem by raising the level of acceptable contamination, making it easier to dispose of the radioactive waste. Further, issues abound about the impact on our aquifers created by fracking; a pattern has been established demonstrating drying up residential and stock wells.

Fracking creates so many issues. Like Monterey County, the Little Missouri National Grasslands, where I live, is one of this country’s true natural treasures. The impact on our lives, our lands, our water, from the oil industry’s activities is real. I hope Monterey County protects itself.”

Best regards,

81flatrock81@gmail.com

81flatrock81 adds this regarding where he/she lives and his/her understanding of the issue: “readers are welcome to contact me. [email is: 81flatrock81@gmail.com] My ranch is located on the fringe of the Bakken play. My county, McKenzie County, is ND’s #1 oil-producing county. I have personally experienced all sides of the oil issue, from local ranchers’ perspectives about the advantages as well as disadvantages from oil activity, to local and state politicians/regulators/employees, essentially apologists for the industry, to industry actions and practices. Generally speaking, it appears to me that the bottom line is short-term money making, an irresistible elixir erasing sound judgment and rational thinking.”