Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites

One of the region’s most popular annual food & wine events finds a new home

The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County presented the 4^th Annual Fork & Cork Classic on May 7, 2017. This year, the popular culinary festival was held at the iconic Fess Parker Doubletree Resort. It was a delightful gathering for a special cause where food and wine enthusiasts enjoyed tastings from an array of Santa Barbara’s best culinary artists and vintners all in support of the Foodbank and its mission to end hunger and transform the well-being of the community through healthy meals and nutritional education.

According to Erik Talkin, CEO, Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, “The Foodbank provides nutritional support for 1 in 4 Santa Barbara County residents each year, and the Fork & Cork Classic is an important event helping to fulfill their annual goal.” “Attendees can enjoy premium wines and gourmet dishes with the knowledge that the proceeds go towards feeding the hungry in our community.”

This year’s Fork & Cork Classic was proud to honor Jasper & Brook Eiler, owners of Harvest Santa Barbara; Archie McLaren, founder of the Central Coast Wine Classic; and Jessica Foster of Jessica Foster Confections, for the contributions they have made toward advancing their respective crafts, as well as their efforts to support the local community, including the Foodbank.

Through the Central Coast Wine Classic, founder and chairman Archie McLaren has shared the region’s wine with a world audience. The Central Coast Wine Classic has raised more than $2.5 million to benefit nonprofit organizations in San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County, including the Foodbank.

Food and community go hand in hand for Jessica Foster of Jessica Foster Confections. Jessica is a longstanding Foodbank supporter, and has distinguished herself and her business by contributing her time and chocolates to many Santa Barbara nonprofit organizations.

Brook and Jasper Eiler of produce distributor Harvest Santa Barbara, work with Central Coast farmers to provide local, sustainably grown produce to everyone from restaurant chefs to children eating lunch in school cafeterias. The Eilers’ donations of healthy produce to the Foodbank are shared with people countywide.

In addition to tastings from the best chefs, restaurants, and winemakers in Santa Barbara County, the Fork & Cork Classic also featured fun games and a silent auction that benefited the Foodbank’s critical work to provide healthy meals to thousands of food insecure children, families, and seniors in our community.

The Foodbank thanked the chefs, restaurants, wineries, and beverage vendors for donating delicious bites and sips for the event:

Wildwood Kitchen, Bar 29, Finch & Fork, Outpost at The Goodland, Santa Barbara Creamery, Caribbean Coffee Company, Fess Parker Doubletree Resort, Chocolats du CaliBressan, Jessica Foster Confections, Chef Edi Robertson, the Lark, and Scratch Bar & Kitchen

Zaca Mesa Winery & Vineyards, Island Brewing Company, Bragg Live Food Products, Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards, Kitá Wines, The Sanger Family of Wines, Beckmen Vineyards, Turiya Wines, Falcone Family Vineyards, Ascendant Spirits, Teeccino Brewing Company, DV8 Cellars LLC, Presqu’ile Winery, Whitcraft Winery, Nielson Winery, Cambria Winery, and Grassini Family Vineyards

The Foodbank also recognized the sponsors of the 4^th Annual Fork & Cork Classic:

Platinum Spoon Sponsors included: Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Foundation and Cox Communications. Gold Spoon Sponsors included: Frank Schipper Construction, NightOut, Eric Roland Photography, Water With Life, Cutler's Artisan Spirits, and The Good Lion. Silver Spoon Sponsors included: Zeeblu, Arlington Financial, Green Hills Software, FastSpring, Samy’s Camera, Courtland-Dane Management Group, Cultivate Events, V3 Printing, and Bill’s Copy Shop

The 4^th Annual Fork & Cork Classic would not have been be possible without the expertise of its Planning Committee who included Erwin Villegas, Event Co-Chair; Kristin Van Ramshorst, Event Co-Chair & Online Promotions Chair; Bradley Martin, Marketing Chair; Michael Blackwell, Restaurants Co-Chair; Mossin Sugich, Restaurants Co-Chair; Todd Atkins, Wineries Co-Chair & Other Beverages; Irene Hoffman, Design Chair; Katie Hershfelt, Event Coordinator – Cultivate Events; Erynn Wanek, Event Manager – Cultivate Events; Leslie Velez, Foodbank, Staff Sponsorship; Quinsi Newell, Community Engagement Chair; Catherine Wastweet, Wineries Co-Chair; David Moorman, Emcee & Entertainment Chair; Kelly Johnson, Volunteer Chair; Ursula Santana, Silent Auction Co-Chair; Yuki York, Silent Auction Co-Chair; Kris Albert, Entertainment.

The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County is transforming the health of Santa Barbara County by eliminating hunger and food insecurity through good nutrition and food literacy. The Foodbank provides nourishment and education through its award-winning programs and a network of over 300 member non-profit partners. In Santa Barbara County, one in four people receive food support from the Foodbank; over 146,198 unduplicated people of whom nearly 35% are children. Last year, the Foodbank distributed 10 million pounds of food — half of which was fresh produce. For more information, visit www.foodbanksbc.org.