To benefit the Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust

A few months ago a person whom I deeply respect and admire sent me and many other chefs an email asking us for our help in any way that we could give it. She was organizing the first Brentwood Agricultural Land Trust benefit.

Her name is Kristie Knoll. She is a woman with boundless energy, strong embraces, genuine smiles and great connections. We all love knowing her because the fall-out of her dedication is contagious and real. She and her partner Rick Knoll have moved their farm courageously to the "beyond organic" neighborhood of agriculture and have been passionate, opinionated and outspoken about their 'whys and hows' of such a bold move.

The Brentwood Agricultural Land trust exists because Brentwood is fast becoming a bedroom community for San Francisco and so paving over farms to replace them with tract housing. Some of the Bay Area's beloved farms call Brentwood their home and need help reminding everyone else that they want to stay.

For the dinner amazing produce was donated to the chefs who needed only to  prepare delicious courses with it. The challenge was the kitchen. There was none. No refrigeration, no sinks, no ovens and no walls.

The most incredible thing about working benefits is that a certain kind of camaraderie ignites, and chefs of all stripes come together to help each other out. Working for fundraisers reminds us why we do what we do after service has beaten the hell out of us night after night. It changes our perspective, literally, and forces us to do what we do best---think on our toes, collaborate to solve problems, surprise diners with our inventive selves. 

Chefs, although many are "celebrities" now, do what we do behind doors. It's rare we make contact with our diners as they are eating our food. And it's rarer still that diners have the opportunity to come into the kitchen while the cooks are cooking.

When I received Kristie's missive I wrote back immediately telling her that I definitely wanted to help but that I was un-employed so I thought I should be a chef-helper. But a few weeks & emails later I somehow metamorphosed into a dessert maker. Go figure. I saw that Knoll farms had (their extra ordinarily aromatic) verbena on the list of herbs being donated, ollallieberries somewhere else, and said, "I think someone needs to make ice cream with that verbena." You can guess who that someone turned out to be.

Instead of going into a really long description of the menu I will let  the many photos I took speak for themselves. I met new chefs and chefs I had been wanting to meet. I worked with people who are my heroes and heroines and I even learned about a new green that I had never heard of: pissenlit. I partnered up to help run the kitchen, expedite and organize the 5 course menu's service with someone so organized and helpful I nicknamed her a goddess by the end of the night. A personal chef whom I had never met before turned into my right hand and we were finishing eachother's physical sentences by the end of the night. And lastly I must say that the Future Farmers of America high-schoolers made me proud and honored to work with them. They turned out to be the "waiters" and were stellar.

This benefit was raw. We were cooking outside and it was challenging. The systems that were created to make it all happen and come together happened on the spot with those who were willing to put heads together, make compromises, quit whining, make do and be grateful for the profound gift that we were all there in a beautiful warm place doing something pro-active for local and sustainable agriculture.

Comments

[jen]

Great pics, Shuna! I am so glad you got a digital camera. Looking at these this early in the morning has me rummaging through my kitchen looking for all the fresh food that I can find. That picture of the huge bowl of fava beans is amazing.

[Kudzu]

Shuna --

Thanks so much for sharing that sun-kissed experience. The closest I have come to it is one of the
"Dinner in the Fields" series, a meal out (literally) on the acres of Warren Weber's farm in Bolinas when chef Traci and a crew from Jardiniere brought propane grills and ice - a whole tented camp kitchen -- and produced a memorable feast that was served on long communal tables. Smoke and the smell of roasting meat from a Chileno Valley ranch, Little Gem lettuces from the fields just beyond our tables, eggs from chickens right down the road, Straus butter and cream: fabulous.

It always depends on the willing spirit of the people involved, doesn't it? You describe so well that coming together in a kitchen, indoors or out. Good for all of you for becoming involved in a noble cause. Marin Agricultural Land Trust has accomplished miracles -- through really hard work -- and I'm sure the Knolls and the folks around Brentwood will do the same.

[melissa s.]

thanks for managing to take photos while you were so busy working! it all looks so delicious, and i hope it was a success for the Trust.

[haddock]

Looks like a great time. BTW, I'm sure you've had pissenlit before. Dandelions by their slangy French name. Means piss the bed.

Benefits are fun to do. Especially when you get to work with new people and make new friends.

[Dr. Biggles]

Holy moly Batman! I would liked to have attended, but at 125 a dinner or 1200 a table, that's a bit rich for my blood. That looked like a great time. I've earmarked the name and want to see what they're up to over the coming months. Beyond Organic is a great idea, I like that a lot. I can get behind that.

Biggles

[Dr. Biggles]

Hey, do you think they'd mind if I ran off with their grill?

[shuna]

there was an old lady who swallowed a cat, imagine that! she swallowed a cat. she swallowed a cat to catch the man who ran off with the grill...

[Kudzu]

Dr. Biggles -- I can't afford those benefits either, on a freelancer's earnings. But sometimes they generously donate press passes and it's a way for them to get positive word out. This is one way I can help out the organizations. It's the chefs and other volunteers -- like Shuna -- who really make the magic happen.

[Kristie Knoll]

Dear Dr. Biggles,

This is to let you know that you don't need to have the bucks to attend. You just need the chutzpah to get your butt out here in the trenches with the rest of us "worker bees". I bought myself a ticket last year, but ended up giving it to a friend and hanging out at the "staff" table with the rest of the wackos in the kitchen! And I hafta say that that's my intention again this year! I wanna be behind the scenes with the rest of the troops making the miracle happen! Soooooo, Dr. Biggles, you have a chance to be part of the miracle infrastructure for the 2006 BALT Second Annual Fun(d)raiser Dinner! Don't drag yer feet!