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Chef Showdown 2005:  Cooking For A Cause

On October 6th, Center for Community Solutions ( CCS ) honored National Domestic Violence Awareness Month with a very unique special event. The first annual “Chef Showdown: Taking a Stand Against Domestic Violence” featured palate-pleasing creations and raised more than $15,000 to support much-needed domestic violence prevention and intervention services throughout San Diego.

In an impressive display of culinary talent and community commitment, top local chefs teamed for a lively “Iron Chef”-styled competition. High-profile chefs from well-known restaurants around the county participated in this premier event, including Gavin Kaysen, executive chef of El Bizcocho at the Rancho Bernardo Inn; Matthew Zappoli, executive chef of Fresh Seafood Restaurant and Bar; Tony DiSalvo, executive chef of Jack’s La Jolla; Jesse A. Paul, executive chef of Star of the Sea; Amy Dibiase, chef de cuisine of Laurel; Victor Jimenez of JRDN Restaurant (in the newly opened Tower 23 Hotel); Luis Camacho, chef de cuisine of Cantina; and Deborah Scott, chef of Island Prime.

More than 300 guests convened in the Courtyard of the Casa del Prado in Balboa Park at 6:00 p.m. for food samplings from 15 local restaurants, live music, libations, and a silent auction. Once the spirited competition commenced, guests watched as the two teams prepared appetizers, entrees and desserts using “secret ingredients” such as mushrooms, fish and chocolate. Funny, witty and insightful course-by-course banter was provided by the event’s co-hosts: Bernard Guillas, executive chef of the Marine Room; and four-time Emmy award winner “Sam the Cooking Guy,” a.k.a. Sam Zien. A panel of celebrity judges sampled delectable delights before declaring the team composed of chefs from Fresh, Jack’s, Cantina and Laurel as the winners by a narrow margin.

The event’s co-chairs, Isabel Cruz, CCS board member and owner of the Cantina and The Mission Coffee Cup restaurants; and Lori Cartmill, CCS board member and Community Relations Manager at Viejas, worked tirelessly to pull all the details together while directing the efforts of a top-notch team of sponsors and volunteers. In particular, Viejas, Dacor, and Kleege Industries were instrumental in ensuring the success of this first-time fundraiser.

According to Verna Griffin-Tabor, executive director of Center for Community Solutions, this inaugural event was an excellent example of how the San Diego community is rallying to end the cycles of violence that affect our city. “Chef Showdown gave us an opportunity to reach out to more people while increasing awareness of critical domestic violence issues,” she said. “We are grateful for the generosity and commitment of the many San Diegans who came together to make this event a tremendous success while raising much-needed funds to support our diverse programs and services. We are already formulating our plans for next year’s Chef Showdown event.”

All proceeds from this event helped support the Center’s diverse domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and intervention programs and services.

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