2010 Big Sur Chanterelle Festival and Cook-Off

February 26th- 28th 2010
The weekend starts off at the Big Sur Lodge in the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, with a reception featuring most of the local restaurants, and a couple of surprise invited guests, featuring what they do best, only enhanced with the earthy and rich chanterelle. The following morning, the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz lead a walk through the State Park on a mycological exploration. Following this, there will be a panel discussion about the mushrooms found on the walk, as well as how they are indicator species for the health of a forest.

At noon on the Saturday, there will be the Chanterelle Cook-Off! Local chefs, professional and non-, will be vying for various prizes based upon such criteria as Presentation, Taste, Originality and others. Come and taste a wide variety of chanterelle recipes and drinks (yes, we have beverages made with the mushroom!), taste great wines from Morgan, Galante, Hahn, Talbott and Heller, and vote for your favorite dishes.

And then, on Saturday evening, come and sit with the chefs and enjoy a sumptuous meal in the Lodge dining room and cheer on the chefs as they receive their awards. Seats are limited for this dinner, so please call and book early.


To top off the weekend, come to the Redwood Grill at Fernwood Resort on Sunday morning at 10 am for a chanterelle brunch served by chef Dave Dildine.

All proceeds from this weekend's events go to the implementation of the Big Sur Victory Gardens Project. Our goal is to establish sustainable and organic small gardens throughout Big Sur to encourage consumption of fresh greens and vegetables and to teach low and middle-income residents the benefits of a healthy organic diet.

Tickets are available at www.bigsurchanterelle.org.