Second Pebble Beach Food and Wine festival elegant, tasty, not stuffy

As they indulged in the hors d'oeuvres at Sunday's Pebble Beach Food and Wine festival, Carlos Navarro and Michael Giluso of Gilroy picked up business cards of the chefs they liked so they could patronize their restaurants, particularly those in San Francisco.
"I would expect to find this kind of food in Honolulu, but not here in Pebble Beach," Navarro said of Hawaiian fusion cuisine created by Roy Yamaguchi, chef at Roy's in Pebble Beach.

That was the idea behind the second annual festival — to match people who crave the finest flavors with the people who create them.

The four-day gala wrapped up Sunday with the Grand Tasting at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center, during which food and wine connoisseurs spent three hours indulging in offerings from 25 renowned chefs and more than 200 wineries.

Food samples included a lobster essence soup created by chef Hubert Keller, whose Fleur de Lys restaurants thrives in San Francisco and Las Vegas, and a bite-sized smoked tea-crusted yellowfin tuna with wakame, blood oranges, sea beans and white soy — the work of Orlando Pagan, who runs Silks in San Francisco.

A food and wine gala, such as the one in Pebble Beach, exposes the celebrity chefs and their cuisine to "right consumer," said Gail Simmons, special projects manager of Food & Wine magazine and a regular judge on the Bravo television show, "Top Chef."

"These are people who like good food, who like good wine, who like to travel," Simmons said. "These are the people you want to bring to your restaurant. They're the ones who appreciate it the most."

The event was not limited to delectable food and wine — it incorporated other amenities of the posh lifestyle.

Beautiful women modeled the clothing of Pacific Tweed. Lexus, an event sponsor, had several of its automobiles on display. A Carmel jewelry store, Lussori, showed off its selection of luxurious jewelry and watches.

"It's all a nice treat for the eye and the taste buds," said Chantal Nelson of Monterey.

Nelson, who did not attend the Food and Wine last year, said she expected the event to be "stuffy." But that was not what she found when she entered the tent.

"I was surprised, considering how exclusive it is, how modern it is," she said.

Tickets ranged from $100 for a single event to $995 for a four-day packages.

In a room full of food and wine critics, there was bound to be some critiquing. Holly Dennis of Minneapolis said that overall she "loved" the event, but she wanted more education than entertainment from the chefs.

"What I want to know is what these brilliants chefs can teach me," Dennis said. "Some chefs were doing the Smothers Brothers routine ... I can watch 'Top Chef' at home."

That wasn't the case with all the chefs. About half, she said, provided the culinary education she craved, showing how to cook efficiently, utilizing local produce and cooking for the family.

As the food and wine connoisseurs satisfied their palates, the people behind the tables gained as much joy titillating their patrons' taste buds.

"It's a really cool event," said Keller, who has appeared on "Top Chef," as he autographed copies of his "Burger Bar" book, a how-to on building "your own ultimate burger."

"I love the interaction, to see the reaction of people as they taste the food," Keller said.

Events often show improvement from the first year to the second, but any improvements were difficult to detect, Keller said, because there was not much room for improvement.

"They already had it nailed down the first year," he said.

Chef Orlando Pagan of Silks in San Francisco describes his dish to... (ORVILLE MYERS/The Herald)