PEEKS Epicurean Excellence at Pebble Beach Food & Wine Jan 2008

Don Huntington

In a wonderful example of making lemonade out of lemons, Rob Weakley and Dave Bernahl saw the loss of the Masters of Food and Wine as an opportunity to create a wonderful event.

Last May 31 was Rob Weakley’s final day as Food and Beverage Director at the Highlands Inn. For a celebration he and David Bernahl, Proprietor of Carmel’s posh Pacific Tweed clothing store, drove down to visit their friends at Marinus Restaurant, had a 16-course dinner at chef Cal Stamenov’s own table, and celebrated Rob’s 13-year career at Hyatt. They feasted until 3:00 a.m. and discussed the new and exciting Food and Wine opportunity that lay before them.

After 21 wonderful years in Carmel the Masters of Food and Wine has moved to Mendoza, Argentina, leaving a gap in the Peninsula’s annual calendar of events that some residents sharply regret. But the two of them decided to fill the vacuum left by the Masters’ passing with a replacement that would take the departing event to a new level.

So they sat back with glasses of wine in their hands to set the mood, and began to imagine locations that could accommodate the large number of guests they imagined being drawn to the much larger event they planned for.

David and Rob have actually been working on this for more than a year, because they started making plans as soon as they learned that the Masters was going away. They wanted to create a scalable event — one that could grow to accommodate the crowd of enthusiasts that they expect to show up.

The event became so attractive that American Express Publishing signed on as the Presenting Sponsor, and is helping to attract international attention to the event.

The Greatest Place for a Food & Wine Spectacle
Marvelous as the Masters of Food and Wine always seemed to be, it had the drawback of being limited to the footprint imposed by the dimensions of the hospitality areas on the site of its Highlands Inn location. The limitations of the area restricted the number of guests. So David and Rob decided to think outside the box and to create an event that will drive a wine and food celebration to the next level.

They had a goal of developing something in Califor_nia that would compare or even surpass the famous Aspen and South Beach Food and Wine events. They’ve always been dismayed by the fact that, even though neither of those places grow grapes and, except for the Florida citrus crop, both lacked any appreciable amount of agriculture, yet they both play host to the nation’s largest celebrations of food and wine.

Meanwhile, California is home to some of the world’s greatest wine labels. Plus, the Central Valley is arguably the planet’s most important bread basket.

It’s inexcusable that California hasn’t had a world-class wine and food event on a scale to match the richness of our state’s resources. So the challenge became one of finding sufficient space on the Peninsula to accommodate the large extravaganza that they envisioned.

David and Rob had the vision of a truly world-class event — one that could include all of California, as well as guests, chefs, and vintners from around the world — if only they could overcome the space limitation.

Their attention turned to Pebble Beach, which of all the locations in the world, perhaps — and in the United States, for sure — has the reputation, history, and panache to attract a world-wide audience, plus the required spaces for an event of the unbounded size that they wanted to organize.

Pebble Beach has an extraordinary international reputation.

“We’ve been in China,” Rob says, “and when we tell people that we’re from California they will often ask, ‘Pebble Beach’?” When they think about California many people in Beijing or Shanghai don’t think about the Golden Gate Bridge or Disneyland, they picture Pebble Beach.

“We couldn’t be luckier than finding partners like Pebble Beach to host an event like the one that we are planning,” David said. “It is one of the best run organizations that we know of.” Locating the Food and Wine event at Pebble Beach has put the wind at the event’s back in promoting the event.

Everyone wants to come; everyone wants to be part of this affair. As a result, they will have one of the strongest first year line-ups of chefs and winemakers ever put together in history.

Another reason for the world class line-up comes from the fact that for the past six years chefs and winemakers have been associated with Rob in the Masters of Food and Wine event.

The cache of the Pebble Beach con_nec_tion becomes absolutely irresistible for some of the chefs when they learn that they’re being offered rounds on the Pebble Beach Golf Course.

The Right Stuff for the New Event
Four excellent venues make up the Pebble Beach location, including The Lodge at Pebble Beach, the Inn at Spanish Bay, Casa Palmero, and the ultra-exclusive Beach and Tennis Club.

Pebble Beach is not only a premier location in terms of size and reputation, it is also a tested location, since it is the site for the annual Concours d’Elegance, which is one of the world’s most recognized automobile events. The people in the area know what is required to put on a large-scale premier production.

The enormously talented and experienced staffs that run the Pebble Beach hospitality industry from day-to-day are pitching in to help. Local food and beverage directors and the chefs are playing an intricate role in orchestrating the oenological and culinary ballet.

The organizers are pulling out all the stops! The delectable entreÈs will be prepared in the area’s multiple kitchens, plus additional fully equipped kitchens are being installed in each location.

The Lexus Grand Tasting event to be held at the Equestrian Center will serve 2,000 people every day in an enormous and elaborate temporary structure.

On Thursday night the most lavish of all opening receptions will take place throughout the Spanish Bay venue, overflowing into restaurants, lobbies, and ballrooms. Festivities will continue from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Wine connoisseurs will be able to choose from among 22 vertical and horizontal wine tastings, offering samples either across labels or within a vintage from year to year.

The Lexus Grand Tasting Event will be held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Twenty of the weekend’s celebrity chefs will display their wares, and 200 wineries will feature 400 of their premier wines.

Attendees will be able to stroll around chatting with chefs while sampling their delectable taste sensations, and talking to wine-makers while sampling their extraordinary juice. Some of the labels will include Silver Oak, Far Niente, Kistler, Pisoni, Kosta Browne, Penfolds, Veuve Clicquot, MoÎt Chandon, and Lynch Bages.

Attendees will be able to sample every vintage of Pisoni Estate ever made. Another tasting pays homage to Heidi Peterson Barrett, who is one of the world’s most renowned vintners. Heidi will be showcasing ten of her wines including such labels as Scream_ing Eagle, Revana, Amouse Bouche, Grace, and Dalle Valle.

All this will take place against a backdrop of performing jazz ensembles, cookbook signings, and enough photo opportunities to overflow the memory cards in attendees’ cameras. There will be a lot of eye candy for the visitors because the event will doubtless attract famous entertainers, celebrities, and stars.

On Friday attendees can sign up for five exclusive wine tastings and two cooking demonstrations. They can choose from lunch among a variety of food styles. For example, Club XIX will feature French cuisine.

Other choices will include coastal cuisine at Stillwater with dishes prepared by chefs like Susan Spicer from New Orleans’ Bayona and Herbsaint restaurants, and Clark Frasier & Mark Gaier from Arrows restaurant in Maine.

Peppoli’s will feature Italian cuisine prepared by Todd English from Olives, Andrew Carmellini from New York’s A Voce, and Gina DePalma from New York’s BaBBo Ristorante.

Fusion fare will be offered by Charles Phan from The Slanted Door in San Francisco and Roy Yamaguchi from Roy’s.

Each course in all four venues will be paired with wines from some of the best producers in the world.

Two hundred most favored guests will pay $1,250 each to participate in the Rare Wine Auction Dinner, which will include six courses of epicurean delights prepared by six of the world’s most exclusive chefs such as Thomas Keller from Napa’s Michelin 3-star French Laundry restaurant, and Alain Passard of Paris’ Michelin 3-star, L’arpege. Each course will be paired with an incredible wine, poured by certified sommeliers.

Bringing the Energy Home
An important component of the event for Rob and David will include paying back to the community for the support that they are already providing to the event. The event will make substantial donations to such nonprofit organizations as Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County and CASA of Monterey County.

During the year they will host an educational symposium for kids and their parents to focus attention upon issues facing children today such as dealing with obesity, improving nutrition, and sustainable cooking.

The kids will also enjoy a fun, interactive cooking opportunity with celebrity chefs.

The organizers are also planning to provide culinary and oenological scholarships for emerging epicurean talent as a way of supporting the industry and promoting the advance of culinary science and the enjoyment of the fine things that our planet has to offer.

Besides the national and international flavors of the festival, Rob and David will provide a strong state and regional emphasis.

The event will provide great econom_ic development power as it showcases the best that California and Monterey have to offer.

Chefs from all parts of California will be participating, as well as wineries from throughout the state.

The event will provide a shot-in-the-arm for local businesses, as well. All parts of the local economy including hotels, resorts, restaurants, tourist venues, and retail outlets will share in the energy.

The event will showcase the bountiful basket that our region has to offer and increase awareness of the fact that Salinas is the salad bowl of the United States, and a leader in the organic and healthy food movement.

When they leave to return to their distant homes, attendees will have been dazzled by their California/Mon_ter_ey/Pebble Beach experience.

Join Rob and David on March 27-30 for an event that may become the most memorable four days of your life.

Within a short time they expect the food and wine event to rival the impact of the Concurs d’Elegance.

So just imagine, decades from now you will be able to tell your peers and great-grandchildren, “I attended the very first Pebble Beach Food & Wine.” They will be so impressed! _

For more information contact www.pebblebeachfoodandwine.com, call 866-907-FOOD, or email info@pebblebeachfoodandwine.com. Send any comments on the article to editors@65mag.com.