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Monday, June
24, 7:00 P.M.
Members $85, guests $110
In a funny way,
chef Christophe Vessaire has come full circle. He started out in
the château country of the Loire Valley, where he grew up,
and today runs the kitchens at Le Fontainebleau at The Westgate
Hotel, an American fantasy of a sumptuous French château with
cuisine to match. In the lavish mirrored and chandeliered dining
room, Vessaire's elegant French-California fare has even laid-back
Southern Californians exclaiming, "Oh là là!"
As a teen, Vessaire
apprenticed at the Michelin-starred Grand Hôtel du Cap Ferrat
and La Voile d'Or on the Mediterranean coast. For the next decade,
he worked in the kitchens of some of the Continent's best restaurants,
among them Restaurant Orsi in Lyons, the Michelin two-starred Restaurant
Gare Cornavin in Geneva, and Restaurant L'Echalote in St.-Tropez.
In 1990, Jean-Louis
Palladin invited Vessaire to move to the United States to join him
at Jean-Louis at the Watergate in Washington, D.C. Vessaire worked
with Palladin to help open Resto des Amis in Atlanta (Esquire's
John Mariani named it a Best New Restaurant in 1994). He diced and
sliced at the Manele Bay Hotel (receiving a 1997 nod from Gault-Millau
as Best Restaurant in Hawaii) and at the respected Wequassett Inn
Resort in Cape Cod, and he worked as private chef to the ambassador
to France.
Last year, Vessaire
became king of the castle (technically speaking—chef de cuisine)
at Le Fontainebleau. Evaluating Vessaire's culinary reign thus far,
Zagat praised the "outstanding New French-California
fusion cuisine...By all counts, this much improved dowager is enjoying
a splendid Renaissance."
Vessaire will
be joined by John and Sally Thornton, owners of the award-winning
Thornton Winery, located north of San Diego in Temecula, California.
When it was founded in 1988, Thornton's list, curated by winemaker
Jon McPherson, focused solely on sparkling wines; in 1993, premium
varietal still wines were added.
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