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Chef Celebration At The Giant Grapefruit |
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Pamplemousse hosts a dinner honoring up-and-coming chefs
A WHOLE LOT OF MALARKEY
October 17: What is a Pamplemousse? This past week, my Oceanaire Seafood Room team and I had the opportunity to cook with some of San Diego’s finest chefs at the Chef Celebration Dinner hosted by Jeffery “Bigger than Life” Strauss at his Del Mar haven, Pamplemousse. I had to get online to find out what in the world a pamplemousse is, and what is has to do with the goose Jeffrey uses as a logo. As defined in the dictionary, a pamplemousse is a giant grapefruit. What does a giant grapefruit have to do with anything? We may never know.
The Chef Celebration is an event held each fall to raise money for young and upcoming chefs (chefcelebration.com). This is how it breaks down:
One chef hosts, and then invites a bunch of his fellow chefs to put together an amazing menu for the public (the price is right at $65 dollars). This year’s line up included Tommy DiMelle (from the “Giant Grapefruit”); Paul McCabe, executive chef from the soon-to-open masterpiece Kitchen 1540 at L’Auberge Del Mar; Jeffrey’s “old” crony Jim Phillips, now with the paper-hat crew over at Barona; and Danny Bannister, from the Red Marlin. Danny is also the vice president of the Chef Celebration, and he does a great job of keeping this party rolling. Remember the old saying, “Too many chefs in the kitchen?” Well, throw in some “adult” soda pop and some great vino (brought in the back door by nice guy Earl Schryver from Maderas) and you have the makings of a very entertaining evening. All 200-plus guests who stopped in for dinner enjoyed a colorful collection of creations. But the best “dishes” of the evening took place in the crowded and extremely hot kitchen. Listening to Jeffrey and Jim go at each other with the endless one-liners was fall-down hilarious. The evening ended with ceremonial shots of tequila, more laughs and a few lies. Oh, the life of a chef.
Word on the street: Damon Gordon from the Ivy Hotel’s Quarter Kitchen is heading back east ... Giant. And Currant is changing chefs. Again.
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Reader Comments:
Giant grapefruit? That may be the most random restaurant name I've ever heard. Brian, have you come across any other weird restaurant names in your travels or even here in San Diego?