Presidential Candidate's Dinner

September was an exciting month for Blissful Kitchen! I was delighted to cook a special fund-raising dinner for John Edwards that featured Elizabeth Edwards as the guest of honor. Chef Joshua Alkire, the original chef, broke his foot a few days before the event. The event was a huge success and Elizabeth was very friendly, appreciative, and happy to take a picture.

Blissful Kitchen in the News

I’m one of three personal chefs interviewed in the September 7, 2007 edition of the San Francisco Business Times in a full-page article that explains how help from personal and private chefs allows many families to enjoy dinner together. I’m the only chef whose picture is featured. The reporter, Nonna Gorilovskaya, notes that:

Personal chefs see themselves as delivering more than great food. By relieving parents from the often enjoyable but time-consuming task, they are helping to revive the family dinner hour perennially under assault from long work hours and takeout.

The reporter also interviewed my client, Alexsis de Raadt St. James, who said, “A good personal chef is a chef who can produce a varied menu that’s tailor-made to the tastes of the family and is flexible around family schedules and habits.”

Customization is an important part of my services that clients value. Due to copyright issues the full article is not available in this site.

98.1 KISSFM - Renel in the Morning Interview

I can’t tell you how exciting it was to be interviewed by Renel on a fine June morning! We chatted about super-food, wine, toffee, and my services. Renel is exuberant, incredibly easy to talk to, and really liked the food but seemed especially smitten by our Cherry-Almond Toffee! Her co-host Karena a.k.a. Baby K and production assistant Celia were delightful and really put me at ease. 

Dorothy with Renel Brooks-Moon

L-R: Celia, Dorothy, and Karena a.k.a. Baby K

St Jude’s Research Hospital

In May I attended the Miracles on the Bay fundraiser for St. Jude’s Research Hospital. St. Jude http://www.stjude.org/aboutus is the largest childhood cancer research center in the world in terms of the number of patients enrolled in a research protocol and successfully treated. This extraordinary culinary event was chaired by my client, Gwinneth Berexa, who spear-headed an all-star event featuring chefs from Dacor, Dry Creek Kitchen, The Fifth Floor Restaurant, Il Fornaio, The Lark Creek Inn, Masa’s, The Melting Pot, Orson, Ozumo, Piperade, Sausalito Yacht Club, Town Hall, and ‘wichcraft.

I was honored to meet Gerald Hirigoyen of Piperade www.piperade.com who was selected as one of Food & Wine Magazine’s “Best New Chefs in America” as well as a 2006 James Beard Foundation winner. Chef Hirigoyen’s “West-Coast Basque Cuisine” is marvelous and should be on your must-visit list of San Francisco dining establishments.

Equally exciting was meeting Mike Yakura of Ozumo www.ozumo.com who was honored by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the ‘Rising Star Chefs of 2006”. Ozumo’s contemporary Japanese cuisine was ranked in the San Francisco Chronicle’s 2007 Top 100 list of restaurants. ‘wichcraft www.wichcraftsf.com is the newest San Francisco brand-extension of Tom Colicchio who is probably now most famous for being the head judge on Bravo’s reality series, Top Chef. I have to say that ‘witchcraft prepared two of the finest hors d’oeuvres I’ve had in a long time.