ABC’s Tina Malave, Host of Eye on L.A., and Barbara Fairchild, Former Bon Appétit Editor in Chief to Emcee James Beard Foundation’s Taste America Dinner on November 6
Once in a lifetime eating event with LA area chefs under one roof
New York/ Los Angeles (October 6, 2015) – The James Beard Foundation (JBF) is honored to reveal the Los Angeles emcees for the third consecutive year of the prestigious Taste America®: “Local Flavor from Coast To Coast” national epicurean tour, which will occur Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7. Tina Malave, from ABC’s Eye on L.A. and Bon Appétit’s former editor in chief Barbara Fairchild will emcee the star-studded celebrity chef night, which will feature Taste America All-Star Hugh Acheson (James Beard Award winner and judge on Bravo’s “Top Chef”), Local Stars Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Animal), Pastry Chef Margarita Manzke (République) and Host Chef Louis Pechan (The Ebell of Los Angeles). The reception chefs include Ray Garcia (Broken Spanish), James Beard Award winner Timothy Hollingsworth (Otium), Michael Hung (Viviane), Jessica Koslow (Sqirl), and Zach Pollack (Alimento). Tickets are available on jbftasteamerica.org.
Fairchild and Malave have long been instrumental in bringing Los Angeles chefs to the forefront of national recognition. Fairchild’s career was long and storied at Bon Appétit. For 32 years, with 10 years as editor in chief, Fairchild oversaw and helped Los Angeles become a gastronomic capitol. She was at the beginning of the food renaissance and commissioned articles on headlining chefs with their restaurants such as Wolfgang Puck (Spago, Cut), Christophe Eme (L’Orangerie, Ortolan), Walter Manzke (République), Taste America L.A. special guest Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feininger (Border Grill), Ludo Lefebrve (Petit Trois), Josiah Citrin (Melisse) and many, many more.
Malave uses her many talents on ABC7’s iconic Eye on L.A. as Host and Senior Producer to showcase the City of Angels’ thriving dining scene. Her on-camera talents and seemingly endless appetite have covered such Los Angeles chefs as Govind Armstrong (Post & Beam), Roy Choi (A-Frame), and the evening’s Tim Hollingsworth (Barrel & Ashes), along with cultural locations such as Los Angeles’ historical Original Farmers Market, Grand Central Market, and so on. Thriving on adventure, Tina loves to uncover new and unique things to see, do, and eat throughout Los Angeles, and she takes her viewers along for the ride.
These ladies – along with the chefs – join chairs David Bernahl (CEO, Coastal Luxury Management and co-owner of LA’s Faith & Flower); restaurateur and investor Bill Chait (Restaurateur and Managing Partner of SproutLA, which includes Redbird and République); Steven Holt (Ritz-Carlton), Sheila Lamb-Cohen (Restaurant Consultant); Emily Luchetti (President, JBF Board of Trustees and Chief Pastry Officer of Bay’s Area’s Big Night Restaurant Group, which includes Marlowe and Park Tavern); and Robert Schueller (Los Angeles-based Melissa’s Produce).
Los Angeles’ weekend-long culinary Taste America itinerary kicks off on Friday, November 6, 2015, at The Ebell of Los Angeles with A Night of Culinary Stars, an exclusive dining event benefiting the James Beard Foundation. The evening will begin with a reception filled with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from local chefs and restaurateurs, including Ray Garcia (Broken Spanish), James Beard Award winner Timothy Hollingsworth (Otium), Michael Hung (Viviane), Jessica Koslow (Sqirl), Zach Pollack (Alimento) and Host Chef Louis Pechan (The Ebell of Los Angeles). Afterwards, guests will be seated for an extraordinary dinner prepared by James Beard Award-winning chef and Taste America All-Star Hugh Acheson (Empire State South; Atlanta, GA), in collaboration with James Beard Award nominees and Local Star chefs Vinny Dotolo and Jon Shook (Animal; Los Angeles, CA), who will come together to create a unique and unforgettable one-night-only menu featuring dessert by Pastry Chef Margarita Manzke (République).
On Saturday, November 7, free in-store consumer events will take place at Sur La Table® located at Farmers Market, 6333 W 3rd St. #10, Los Angeles, CA 90036. Activities of the day will include a cooking demo by All-Star Hugh Acheson, book signings, tastings from local producers and artisans, as well as product demos and tastings from our national sponsors. Reservations for the free cooking demos will begin two weeks prior to each event at jbftasteamerica.org. Visit Los Angeles’s event page for the full schedule and more details.
The James Beard Foundation is proud to donate a portion of the evening’s proceeds to the Taste America Scholarship Fund. Local culinary students in California are invited to apply for this culinary scholarship between April 1 and May 15, 2016 through jamesbeard.org. Candidates will be reviewed by the JBF Scholarship Selection Committee, chaired by the institution’s Executive Director Susan Ungaro.
The James Beard Foundation’s Taste America is presented in association with The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® Credit Card and is supported by the following national sponsors. Premier sponsors Lifeway Foods and New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation; supporting sponsors BACARDÍ GRAN RESERVA®, Breville®, Nespresso®, and Sodexo; digital media partner The Daily Meal®; and by returning national retail partner Sur La Table. Taste America Los Angeles’s local sponsors include Angeleno Magazine, BG Global, Celebrity Cruises®, Din, The Ebell of Los Angeles, Essentia Water, Gamma Nine, Goose Island, J. Lohr, Noise 13, Hotel Palomar, Paso Robles Cab Collective, Rotari, The Somm Journal, Stella Artois®, The Tasting Panel, VerTerra Dinnerware, and Where®.
For more information about Taste America events in Los Angeles, please visit jbftasteamerica.org or contact Madison Ginnett at Madison@afandco.com or 415.781.5700 and follow #JBFTasteAmerica on Twitter and Instagram.
About the James Beard Foundation (JBF)
Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation celebrates, nurtures, and honors America’s diverse culinary heritage through programs that educate and inspire. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, the late James Beard was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts, instilling in them the value of wholesome, healthful, and delicious food. Today JBF continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships for culinary students, publications, chef advocacy training, and thought-leader convening. The Foundation also maintains the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a “performance space” for visiting chefs. For more information, please visit jamesbeard.org. Get food news, recipes, and more at the James Beard Foundation’s blog. Follow the James Beard Foundation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
