Coming together for an evening of competitions and charity, San Diego’s top chefs will partake in an Iron Chef-inspired culinary event on September 26 benefiting the Center for Community Solutions’ (CCS) domestic violence prevention and intervention programs and services. The ninth annual showdown will feature ten of the city’s best chefs will be separated into two teams and will have to incorporate one secret ingredient into their eight original dishes.
Judging the dishes will be a panel of well-known chefs and restaurateurs including: Bernard Guillas of the Marine Room, Ingrid Croce of Croce’s Restaurant and Jazz Bar, Amy Finley of Riviera Magazine, and Javier Plascencia of Mision 19. Guests will also receive a sample of the creations and receive course-by-course commentary by Sam Zien of Sam the Cooking Guy and Marcella Valladolid of the Food Network’s Mexican Made Easy.
Participating in the night are chefs Anthony Sinsay of Herringbone LA, Amy Dibiase of Baleen, Joe Magnanelli of Cucina Urbana, Lori Sauer of George’s at the Cove, Percy Oani of The Shores, John Bautista of Kitchen 1540, Benito Molina of Manzanilla, Drew Deckman of Deckman’s, Flor Franco of Indulge Contemporary Catering and more. Music and live video projection will be going on throughout the event as well as a silent auction.
CCS has been helping those affected by sexual assault, domestic violence and elder abuse each year since 1969. Today they have assisted over 30,000 people with their programs and services. Part of their work involves court or hospital accompaniment as well as providing emergency domestic violence shelters and counseling services. As the city’s only Rape Crisis Center, the non-profit also operates a 24-hour bilingual crisis helpline for rape survivors.
Tickets for the fundraiser begin at $125 and can be purchased online. The event will take place in Point Loma at the NTC Promenade from 6-9 p.m. Last year's event raised over $150,000 and the winning team featured chefs Joe Magnanelli, Amy DiBiase, Anthony Sinsay, Bobby Mariner, Chris O’Donnell and pastry chef Rachel King.
