Bay Area Tasting Week 2012
Held from October 12 to October 21, Bay Area Tasting Week is expanding from its original location of Palo Alto to now include the cities of San Francisco, Sunnyvale, East Palo Alto and Los Altos.
Tasting Week will kick-off at the San Francisco Metreon on October 12 with an event for adults developed in collaboration with the French American Chamber of Commerce, entitled “La Soiree”.
The week-long event will conclude at Dogpatch Studios in San Francisco, on October 21 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, with an event for families developed in collaboration with Omnivore World Tour. Children and their families will have the opportunity to taste the lunch kits, developed by the Cordon Bleu Culinary School winner of the best tasting lunch kit for children.
Students from thirteen Bay Area schools will participate in a week-long series of events, October 12-21. The events, held at these schools, will allow students to interact with top local chefs and discover, enjoy and share new foods.
Chefs participating this year are from the area’s best restaurants. Some of the guest chef presenters are: Charlie Ayers from Calafia in Palo Alto; John Bentley from John Bentley’s in Redwood City; Marco Fossati from the Four Seasons in Palo Alto; Nathan Beriau from Ritz Carlton San Francisco; Brendy Monsada from Left Bank in Menlo Park; Jeremy Bringardner from LYFE Kitchen in Palo Alto; Emmanuel Robert from Sofitel in Redwood City, Liv Wu from Google; Laura Stec from Kaiser Permanente; and Michelle Boldrini from Facebook.
The idea to include schools in the Tasting Week events originated from a group of Bay Area parents who share the belief that educating children about food and different tastes, is the best way to get them to love eating good food and simultaneously fight obesity. Founder of Bay Area Tasting Week, Rebecca Scholl-Barbier, said she promoted the idea of workshops because it allows children to learn about nutrition in a qualitative way by appreciating the tastes and aromas of food.
“I truly believe that educating children about the origin of food, how to prepare it, and how to appreciate flavors is one of the most successful ways to fight obesity,” she said.
The PAUSD Food Service Department is participating in the celebration by putting together exhibition cooking demonstrations and A to Z salad bars in Palo Alto schools.
The Tasting Week events, held at the schools, have the endorsement of Palo Alto Mayor, Yiaway Yeh; Palo Alto Director of Community Services, Greg Betts; Palo Alto School District Superintendent, Kevin Skelly; and French Consul General to San Francisco, Romain Serman.
Mayor Yiaway Yeh had this to say about why he supports this event: “We need to teach kids that food can be healthy and taste good. We need to inspire in kids a love for what is both delicious and nutritious. Kudos Bay Area Tasting Week!”
Scholl-Barbier said she hopes to have Tasting Week become an annual tradition. She points out that in France, “Tasting Week” or “La Semaine du Gout” is an annual celebration of tastes and diverse cultures that has taken place for over thirty years.
A calendar of events and workshop location is available at http://www.tastingweek.com/calendar/
Additional information about this event is available by contacting Rebecca Scholl 650-787-9468, rebecca@tastingweek.com.