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# Gourmet dinner raises $1,600 for Farmers Market fund
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/gourmet-dinner-raises-1-600-for-farmers-market-fund/
- Published: 2003-09-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:59:55.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Education, Pier, #archive-import

A 10-course gourmet dinner at Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel on Sunday raised more than $1,600 for victims of the July 16 Farmers Market accident.

The meal was prepared by 25 students of the Westlake Culinary Institute as the final assignment in their 23-week course. It also served as their graduation celebration and attracted more than 200 people.

Friends and family of the students gathered in the Lavande Restaurant at Loews to enjoy the food and drink, the intermittent commentary from students and the setting orange sun as it slipped behind the roller coaster on the Santa Monica Pier.

Cecilia DeCastro, lead instructor for the school, described the event as a success and said even Loews staff members, who are accustomed to sharing their kitchen with world-renowned chefs, were impressed by the efficiency and professionalism exhibited by the culinary students.

“I always do this for them, because it’s at the point where you ask, ‘Do you really want to work in the industry or not?’” said DeCastro. “Once they do this, it separates those who really want to work in the industry from the ones who don’t. It separates those that say, ‘It’s a lot of work,’ from, ‘It’s a high, I really want to do this.’”

The evening began with a choice of five appetizers — from crostini with can-nelini beans and roasted garlic to Thai crab cakes with basil cilantro aioli and ahi tuna tartare on a crispy won ton.

Up next was a brioche toast with nectarine in a Riesling reduction topped with foie gras and served with a glass of 2001 Koehler Riesling from Santa Barbara.

The Riesling gave way to a 2000 Carneros Chardonnay from Dunewood Vineyards as the students presented grilled shrimp and scallops on a bed of mesclun greens and heirloom tomatoes in an Asian vinaigrette.

Butternut squash and corn chowder puree with goat cheese croutons was served before a wild mushroom ravioli in gorgonzola cream sauce, alongside a 2000 Lincourt Chardonnay from Santa Barbara.

Course No. 6 included halibut with a black bean salad and pineapple chutney, and was followed by a calamandine sorbet infused with champagne to clear the palette.

That’s when things really got started. Next was tenderloin of beef with a port fig sauce, Swiss chard with pancetta creamed potatoes and fresh vegetables. It was served with two wines — the 1999 Rancho Sisquoc Cabernet Sauvignon from Santa Barbara and a 2000 Covey Run Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington state.

Finally, two rounds of dessert were served with a special dessert wine. First, a spiced peach cobbler with a ginger-almond biscuit and cardamom ice cream, and, lastly, a marjolaine creme brulee with raspberry and passion fruit coulis.

“They worked extremely hard this week, especially as a team,” said Phyllis Vaccarelli, who founded the school in 1978\. “It’s amazing what they’ve accomplished.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/092403-05_01-7.jpg)

to the Daily Press Students from the Westlake Culinary Institute prepare a 10-course meal at Loews on Sunday. (Photo: Dean Hendler/Special)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 24, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/092403.pdf?ref=smdp.com)