Hotel del Coronado’s grand Crown Room
Hotel del Coronado’s grand Crown Room
Floating candles and sprays of fabulous flowers bedecked each table.
Floating candles and sprays of fabulous flowers bedecked each table.
Chilled creme du Barry—cauliflower bisque with duck aspic and Russian caviar—by the Del’s own chef, Stefan Peroutka
Chilled creme du Barry—cauliflower bisque with duck aspic and Russian caviar—by the Del’s own chef, Stefan Peroutka
Chuck and Rita Steel
Chuck and Rita Steel
Emmanuel Gonzalez and Jackie Sorkin
Emmanuel Gonzalez and Jackie Sorkin
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 MaĆ®tres 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
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