Celebrate the Craft a favorite culinary event for chefs, food lovers alike

You’d never know it was the first day of November from the weather-a warm, utterly clear Sunday-but there we were, hundreds of us, post-Halloween, post-daylight savings time, on a grassy terrace at the Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, overlooking the Pacific,  enjoying the food of some of San Diego’s best chefs at the seventh annual Celebrate the Craft.

Talk to any of the chefs who participated this year, and you’d likely have heard-as I did from Andrew Spurgin of Waters Fine Catering-that this is their favorite culinary event. As Spurgin said, it brings together a handful of chefs with vintners and growers to demonstrate their camaraderie.

And it literally does bring them together.

Read more: Celebrate-and savor-the craft with the Slow Food movement

Each chef is paired with a regional producer and a vintner or brewer, whose products are used to create dishes like Spurgin’s popular rabbit croquette (DeBruin Rabbits) with a winter squash soup (McGrath Family Farm), Tim Kolanko’s grilled Roman-style duck breast (Liberty Ducks) with persimmon and quince chutney on sautéed greens, and  Christian Graves’ Octopus Bolognese (Catalina Offshore Products), Meyer Lemon Gremolata, Trofie Pasta and Olio Nuovo.

An assortment of local fish from Catalina Offshore Products; one of the many farmers, artisans, and chefs at this year's "Celebrate the Craft." (Photo and video by Steven Bartholow)

Guests also enjoyed cheeses from Venissimo and Spring Hill Farms, breads from Bread and Cie and sweets from artisans like Jack Fisher Confections.

The chef responsible for this event is Jeff Jackson, executive chef at the Lodge’s A.R. Valentien. It’s his baby and for Jackson, it’s an opportunity to show off California farmers, wineries, cheese makers and other producers he and his colleagues collaborate with on a daily basis.

You can hear Jackson talk with SDNN’s Diane Stopford about his passion for Celebrate the Craft here. Diane also spent some time chatting with several chefs and other participants as part of our ongoing video series.

Tags: A.R. Valentien, Andrew Spurgin, Bread and Cie, Celebrate the Craft, Christian Graves, Jack Fisher Confections, Jeff Jackson, Lodge at Torrey Pines, SDNN, Spring Hill Farms, Tim Kolanko, Venissimo, Waters Fine Catering

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