Top prize in WSRE auction features world-renowned celebrity chef Jacques Pépin

Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008

Contact: Shelley Yates   
Fish House Complex and Jackson’s Steakhouse
Shelley@goodgrits.com (850) 748-0001 

Robin McArthur WSRE, PBS for the Gulf Coast
rmcarthur@wsre.org (850) 484-1211 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

Top prize in WSRE auction features world-renowned celebrity chef Jacques Pépin 

Pensacola, Fla. Sept. 18, 2008—The top prize of WSRE’s Gala Captain’s Dinner auction is a private dinner for 14—including Chef Jacques Pépin as guest—prepared by local celebrity chefs. 

As part of the 20th Annual WSRE Wine and Food Classic, WSRE is hosting a “Taste, Toast, & Tour the World” pre-event Captain’s Gala Dinner on Thursday, October 2, 2008. The event includes an auction for a private gourmet dinner prepared by Gulf Coast chefs Jim Shirley of the Fish House, Irv Miller of Jackson’s Steakhouse, and Dan Dunn of H2O Asian Grill—with wine presented by Distinctive Kitchens—and flavorful conversation with one of the world’s best chefs, Jacques Pépin. This top prize culinary package, valued at ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00), will be hosted at Teri Levin’s Beach Club penthouse. 

The Captain’s Gala Dinner, presented by event chairs Patricia Windham and Gordon Sprague, will be hosted by the Pensacola Country Club, which will be transformed into a luxurious “WSRE Ocean Liner” for the evening of October 2 between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. The theme features Australia, the United States, and Italy as ports of call with wine selections from each country. Executive Chef Geoffrey Slate will present continental cuisine. 

Dance to the sounds of Joe Occhipinti’s Continental Swing Orchestra. Live auction items include the private dinner party with Chef Pépin—and more. $125 per person. To book your passage, call (850) 484-1072. Please confirm your reservation by September 26, 2008.   “Taste, Toast and Tour the World” is WSRE’s signature fundraising event. The 20th Annual WSRE Wine & Food Classic will be held Sunday, October 19, 5-8 p.m., at the Pensacola Civic Center. Chef Pépin headlines the event, which marks the first time in many years that a world-renowned chef of Pépin’s stature has visited Pensacola. To book your trip around the world in one evening, tickets can be purchased at WSRE, 1000 College Blvd., or the Pensacola Civic Center box office. General admission is $50 per person; VIP (reserved seating) $100 per person. For more information about the fundraising event, call (850) 484-1072 or visit www.wsre.org/WineandFood. 

Chef Jacques Pépin, a former columnist for The New York Times, writes a quarterly column for Food & Wine. He also participates regularly in that magazine’s prestigious Food & Wine Classic in Aspen and at other culinary festivals and fundraising events worldwide. In addition, he is a popular guest on such commercial TV programs as The Late Show with David Letterman, The Today Show, and Good Morning America. 

Chef Jim Shirley is co-owner of the Fish House, Atlas Oyster House, and The Deck Bar in Pensacola, and is co-owner of the Great Southern Café in Seaside, Fla. Jim uses Southern accents with great skill and spirit, and uses his knowledge of local waters and his families’ farming history to promote “new ruralism,” a movement to promote sustainable agriculture at the urban edge.  

Chef Irv Miller, co-owner of Jackson’s Steakhouse in Pensacola, is considered one of the great chefs of Northwest Florida. He has prepared dinner at the James Beard house on more than one occasion, and is recognized as one of the originators of the “radical” experiment that CNN dubbed “New Florida Cooking” and is hailed as a pioneer of “Florida Coastal Cooking” along the Panhandle.  

Chef Dan Dunn has been a celebrated chef in Pensacola for more than 20 years. Pensacola natives have followed his career since its beginnings in the award-winning Jubilee restaurant to his present position as executive chef of the Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front. His hybrid style and use of fresh, local ingredients are an exciting contribution to in-house restaurant H2O. 

Contact: Shelley Yates
Shelley@goodgrits.com
(850) 748-0001
Fish House and Jackson’s Steakhouse
 
Robin McArthur
rmcarthur@wsre.org
(850) 484-1211
WSRE, PBS for the Gulf Coast   

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