Local Chefs to Use Student-Grown Produce at Cal Poly Pomona Dinner
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Tickets on Sale for April 27 Farm to Table Dinner
Enjoy a meal prepared by local chefs using produce grown by college students at the 5th Annual Farm to Table Spring Harvest Dinner at Cal Poly Pomona.
Tickets are now on sale for the dinner event which is Saturday, April 27, at the AGRIscapes Center.
Christopher Gendreau of Chase’s LaVerne, Arthur Siler of Pappas Artisanal Grill, and Tonya Tardd of Cal Poly Pomona Foundation Dining Services are the chefs for this year’s dinner, which the Huntley College of Agriculture organizes.
“We’re excited to have Arthur and Tonya on board to bring their talents and experience to this event and to welcome back Chris for his fourth year with us,” said Lisa Kessler, the Huntley College of Agriculture’s interim dean. “We are looking forward to seeing what delightful dishes they create for us.”
The Menu and the Chefs
The chefs are still working out the menu details, but the dinner will include appetizers at stations where guests can interact with the chefs during a cocktail hour; a farm-fresh salad with Cal Poly Pomona-grown greens; a
Gendreau is the executive chef of Chase’s in Old Town La Verne, a restaurant that he opened with Susan Wickman in 2012. The restaurant is known for its outdoor, wood-fired grill, a concept that was refined and perfected over 20 years in Gendreau’s backyard.
Siler is the executive chef of Pappas Artisanal Grill in La Verne. He has more than 20 years of experience as a chef and is known for his creativity and ingenuity in his dishes, which frequently feature local, seasonal ingredients that he hand picks.
A native of Long Island, New York, Tardd inherited the gift of seeding, harvesting, cooking and eating from her parents. She attended Johnson and Wales University Culinary Arts and Business Program and embraces the simplicity of food and the combination of clean ingredients to create flavorful dishes.
The cocktail hour and dinner also will feature wine from Michael David Vineyards and Cal Poly Pomona’s Horsehill Vineyards and beer from Cal Poly Pomona’s Innovation Brew Works. Professor Marjorie Jones from The Collins College of Hospitality Management, who is a certified sommelier and wine educator, will speak at the dinner about the pairing of the wines with the various dishes.
The Award and Speakers
The Huntley College of Agriculture annually presents the Jim Hicks Agricultural Achievement Award at the dinner. The award is named after Jim Hicks, a businessman and long-time supporter of agricultural education who was its first recipient in 2015.
This year’s recipient is fashion industry executive Susan Kellogg-Bell, the great-great-granddaughter of W.K. Kellogg, whose winter ranch became the Cal Poly Pomona campus. For more information on the award and Kellogg-Bell, please read the story about her.
In addition, five students from the Huntley College of Agriculture - one from each department - will speak during the event and share their experiences as a student and their career aspirations.
For more information on the Farm to Table dinner or to purchase tickets, visit http://springharvest.cpp.edu.