Successful Meetings - January 2008 - (Page 32)

Food & Beverage > Chef Timothy Ralph Omni San Diego For Your Eyes Only People love to go behind the scenes. Consider the popularity of the backstage pass and “The Making of…” videos. They give a sense of privileged access, of seeing something shown only to the fortunate few, of VIP status. In the dining world, the equivalent is usually dinner at the chef’s table, where guests are welcomed into the kitchen to dine and watch the culinary team in action. But for Chef Timothy Ralphs at the Omni San gy to better understand what goes into producing the farm’s herbs and microgreens. “Probably 90 percent of Americans only see agriculture at the grocery store, after it’s gone through so many different hands,” Ralphs says. “But there, you get a first-hand look at what goes on at these farms, and you can understand what makes them so special, and so expensive. It’s really extraordinarily cutting-edge, and something you’d never normally get to see.” The next stop is the Temecula wine country, where guests enjoy a vineyard picnic created by Chef Ralphs and matched to local wines, followed by a winery tour and barrel tasting with the winemaker. On the second morning, Chef Ralphs accompanies guests to the local farmers’ market and gives a guided tour, including tastings, of the local produce. After that, guests go to “Chocolate College” at Chuao Chocolatie. There, they taste the different grades of chocolate, witness the full production process from cocoa bean to wrapped package, and take a hands-on chocolate truffle-making class with the pastry chef. Ralphs is currently in talks with a local fisherman to develop a second program that begins with an early-morning ride on a commercial fishing boat and culminates with a dinner built around that day’s catch, which he hopes to start offering in the summer. “It’s not sexy to be shivering on a boat at 5 A.M.— that’s not about glamour. But when you see that fish pulled out of the water and then, to be in the kitchen with the chef at 3 P.M., watching it butchered and plated it for dinner, that’s really exciting.” BACKSTAGE PASS Ideal group size: 2-10 Cost: $999 (including two-night accommodation, double occupancy) Advance notice: 30 days Diego, that’s less of a backstage pass and more of a quick peek between the blinds. For Ralphs, the real access is his new two-day “Taste of the City” program. Far beyond spending a couple of hours in the kitchen with the chef, guests tour the area’s top organic farms, meet the winemaker at a local vineyard, shop the farmers’ market with the Chef himself, and learn chocolate-making at a local chocolatier. “We see this as a way to really capitalize on all the agricultural gifts in and around San Diego,” Ralphs says. “This area produces arguably some of the best produce in the country, if not the world, considering the growing season that we have here. So this program is about exposing people to that uniqueness, freshness, quality, and really just bragging about it.” Day one starts with breakfast, after which guests are driven by limousine to visit two of the area’s top organic farms. There, they’re given a tour of the facility along with a tutorial in agriculture and microbiolo- By Suzie Amer suzie.amer@nielsen.com 32 mimegasite.com JANUARY 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS http://mimegasite.com

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Successful Meetings - January 2008 Contents Editor's Note Associations Research Events Suppliers Associations On the Record Associations Suppliers Planner Spotlight Websites of the Month Management Matters Meeting the Law Personal Success Mouth for Sale Food & Beverage Professional Development On Site Pre-Event Tools of the Trade Veggie Power Tennis, Anyone? Seeing is Believing The Wild Green Yonder Game On Places & Spaces Galveston & Texas Beaches Greater Seattle Singapore Gurus

Successful Meetings - January 2008

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