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Dana Point’s Ocean Institute hosts the 13thAnnual Jazz Festival
The gourmet culinary team for the 13th Annual Jazz Festival Gala has been announced. The event is being held in Dana Point on Saturday evening, January 24. Event attendees will be treated to a three course gastronomic delight plus canapés and dessert, with each course being prepared by one of the area’s top Executive Chefs.
Executive Chef and Culinary Team Leader Frederic Castan – St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort
Executive Chef Frederic Castan of the five-star St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort was educated at the highly regarded Conservatoire National des Artes et Metieres, and the Universite d’Avignon et des Pays des Vaucluse. The French native’s decades of culinary experience include positions with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, and Sofitel Luxury Hotels & Resorts.
Executive Chef Pierre Albaladejo – Park Hyatt Aviara
Executive Chef Albaladejo of the four-star Park Hyatt Aviara has more than a decade of experience in working in some of the most highly regarded kitchens in Europe and the USA. He has perfected his contemplative and respectful style of cooking. Creating new dishes using the abundance of freshest, highest quality ingredients locally available challenges and inspires him to new culinary heights. Chef Albaladejo is a native of Dax, France, and graduated from the Culinary Institute Lycee d’ Enseignement Professionel de Capbreton in Landes, France. His culinary career in France included posts at the three-star Lucas Carton in Paris, two-star Café de Paris in Biarritz and Palais de L’Elysee in Paris in the private kitchen of President Francois Mitterand.
Executive Chef Pedro Contreras – Ritz-Carlton Laguna Nigel in Dana Point
Executive Chef Contreras joins us from the five-star Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in Dana Point.
His more than 10 years of experience and his passion for the cuisines of the Americas led him from his native Venezuela in a family with roots in Spain and Mexico to study at the University of Los Andes in Merida, Venezuela and eventually to Scottsdale, Arizona. He migrated to the west coast where he became intrigued by the possibilities offered from his ocean “backyard” and access to fresh produce year round.
Executive Chef Vincent Lesage – Balboa Bay Resort
Classically trained French Executive Chef Vincent Lesage of the four-star Balboa Bay Resort uses only the freshest, highest quality ingredients in his specialty dishes. A native Parisian, Chef Lesage developed his love of cooking from his talented mother and grandmother. His inspiration to create works of art with food came from his childhood visits to museums with his family. Chef Lesage attended the Institut Paul Bocus in Escully, France, studying under some of the most respected chefs in Europe.
Executive Chef Thomas Trevethan – Marriott Laguna Cliffs Resort and Spa
Award winning Executive Chef Thomas Trevethan of the four-star Marriott Laguna Cliffs Resort & Spa is a culinary veteran with more than 20 years of experience, much of it in top European hotels and restaurants. He has served British Royalty at Harrods in London, and worked in the restaurants of the Ritz-Carlton, Paris Hotel & Casino, and in the Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Originally from Australia, he has honed his culinary talents at five-star hotels and resorts and with Crystal Cruise Lines. Among his professional achievements are 20 culinary competition medals from the American Culinary Institute, as well as being named USA Chef of the Year finalist in New York.
He currently serves as National Culinary Chairperson for the National Committee United States ACF and was recently invited to lunch at the White House by First Lady Michelle Obama to launch his “Moves to Schools” program.
Executive Chef Rob Wilson – Montage Laguna Beach
Executive Chef Rob Wilson of the five-star Montage Laguna Beach is our only local culinary master, raised in Laguna Niguel, then attending Dana Hills High School in Dana Point. That’s not to say, however, that he has not put in his time in other positions and other places around the country. Chef Wilson came to the Montage after an impressive 20-year career with the Ritz-Carlton chain. While his earliest food memory is that of his mom teaching him how to flip an egg, his favorite kitchen appliance now is a vitamix blender. His culinary watchwords are creative, seasonal, and spontaneous, and he strives to include the essence of each in all of his creations.
Tickets for the Saturday evening Gala and Gourmet dinner are on sale at the Ocean Institute now.
Please contact them at www.oijazzfestival.com.
Using the ocean as the classroom, the Ocean Institute inspires children to learn. The Ocean Institute has become nationally known for its hands-on marine science, environmental education and maritime history programs. More than 115,000 K-12 students and 6,000 teachers annually participate in the Institute’s 61 award-winning, immersion style programs.
On Chef photo – left to right:
Executive Chef Pierre Albaladejo – Park Hyatt Aviara,
Executive Chef Pedro Contreras – Ritz-Carlton Laguna Nigel in Dana Point ,
Executive Chef Rob Wilson – Montage Laguna Beach
Executive Chef and Culinary Team Leader Frederic Castan – St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort,
Sous Chef – Mariott Laguna Cliffs Resort and Spa,
Executive Chef Vincent Lesage – Balboa Bay Resort
Executive Chef Thomas Trevethan – Marriott Laguna Cliffs Resort and Spa
is not pictured
Donia Moore
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