Nine Acclaimed Chefs to Prepare Cuisine for 1st Annual Oceana Awards Dinner
Exquisite Cuisine, Sustainable Foods to Share Spotlight with Celebrities at L.A. Fundraiser
Press Release Date: December 2, 2003
Location: Los Angeles
Contact:
Dustin Cranor, APR | email: dcranor@oceana.org | tel: 954.348.1314
Nine of the West Coast’s premier chefs will collaborate to prepare the meal for this Wednesday’s Oceana Partners Award Dinner in Los Angeles, the ocean advocacy group announced today. Oceana also released the menu for the dinner, which will feature cervena, a high-quality free range venison, as well as sustainable seafood and locally grown, organic produce.
Jeffrey Mora of Metropolitan Culinary Services in Burbank, California, will organize the chefs’ participation at the event. Mora was a member of Team USA in the 1992 and 1996 International Culinary Olympics and is well known for incorporating his devotion to the environment into his cooking. Thierry Rautureau, who in 1998 was named “Best Chef/Northwest” by the James Beard Foundation, and Donald Wressel, nominated twice as one of the “Ten Best Pastry Chefs in America,” will also be contributing their services. Rautureau is currently the Chef/Owner of Rover’s Restaurant in Seattle, Washington. Wressel serves as the Executive Pastry Chef at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles.
“In addition to being renowned for their ability to prepare sumptuous meals, our chefs for this event also cook with a conscience,” said Oceana CEO Andrew Sharpless. “We are grateful to them for volunteering their time as well as their creative and exquisitely prepared dishes, and for continuing to promote sustainable solutions.”
Other nationally-acclaimed chefs helping with the 2003 Oceana Partners Award Dinner will include Kazuto and Viki Fan Matsusaka (Beacon; Culver City, CA) and Andreas Nieto (Century Plaza Hotel; Los Angeles, CA). The reception chefs will include Conny Anderson (Garden Restaurant, Four Seasons Hotel; Beverly Hills, CA), Josiah Citrin (Melisse Restaurant; Santa Monica, CA), Rudy Garcia (Los Angeles Mission College; Sylmar, CA), and Raphael Lunetta (JiRaffe Restaurant; Santa Monica, CA).
“The seafood lovers I know want to do what’s best for the environment,” said Mora, who is organizing the chefs’ participation in the event. “We are pleased to have this opportunity to demonstrate that responsible fishing, ocean protection and great seafood can go hand-in-hand.”
During the dinner, Oceana will recognize Senator Hillary Clinton, Producer Brian Grazer, Director Ron Howard and famed ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau for their many successful efforts to save the nation’s oceans and coasts. The event will be emceed by Bill Maher of HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher and take place at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
Oceana’s Partners Award Dinner will be the first since a 2002 merger with American Oceans Campaign, which was founded in 1987 by Ted Danson. Its purpose is to honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions and personal commitments to preserving and protecting the world’s oceans.
More information about the 2003 Partners Award Dinner is available at www.oceana.org.
