Icons + Masters Gala

San Diego’s finest—plus a celeb photographer and a few of France’s master chefs—came together for the Icons + Masters Gala in celebration of 130 years of the Hotel del Coronado.

THE PARTY Rarely do so many members of France’s exclusive Maîtres Cuisiniers de France (the French Master Chefs society) congregate together, but a special celebration warranted an exceptional showing. The gala evening, on Feb. 17, began in the Coronet Room with a Champagne reception and gallery show of images of some of the world’s most iconic stars by celebrated photographer John Russo. THE SCENE Under boughs of gorgeous flowers and the Crown Room’s dramatic wood-domed ceiling, French master chefs Xavier Salomon, Olivier Dubreuil, Steve Benjamin, Frederic Castan and Patrick Ponsaty served an extravagant, five-course dinner beginning with lemon poached Canadian lobster, scallops and sea urchin, and ending with a filet of beef with truffle quenelle and lamb sweetbread, all paired with fabulous wines, followed by tables of petits fours. THE HIGHLIGHTS Diners did a few rounds on the dance floor between courses to the stylings of NRG, and the whole room joined in after dinner. Guests went home with a gold-rimmed charger plate to commemorate the evening, a copy of The Master Chefs of France cookbook and the evening’s spectacular menu, etched in metal.-Andrea Bennett

Photos by Tim King