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Cocktails and multi-cultural hors d'oeuvres at the event were prepared by celebrated chefs and their daughters:
Zarela Martinez Owner of Zarela Restaurant in NYC Leeann and Katie Chin Authors of Everyday CHinese Cooking Sara Moulton Host of Food Network's Cooking Live Lidia
Bastianich Host of Lidia's Italian Kitchen on PBS and Owner of Felidia
Restaurant in NYC
Since its opening nearly fourteen years ago, New Yorkers have taken Zarela to their hearts as a stimulating meeting place and a benchmark of culinary excellence. It regularly wins superlative reviews and professional awards. The popularity of Ms. Martínez's food led to the publication of her two acclaimed books, Food from my Heart (Macmillan 1992), and The Food and Life of Oaxaca (Macmillan 1998). Ms. Martínez is now working on a PBS (WMHT) television series on the food of Veracruz state, to be issued at the same time as a major cookbook on the same subject for Houghton Mifflin Publishers. In addition to her restaurant work and writing, Ms. Martinez carries on an extensive catering business and gives Mexican cooking lessons as well as lecture/demonstrations on Mexican cuisine and culture, and has acted as a marketing consultant for such clients as General Mills, Nestlé, Marriott and Taco Bell. Ms. Martínez has made many guest appearances on a wide variety of television programs such as "Julia Child: Cooking with Master Chefs" and "Regis and Kathie Lee." She is active in organizations including CityMeals on Wheels, SOS, The New York Public Library, the March of Dimes, UNICEF and the Women's Economic Development Corporation.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
As a young girl growing up in Canton, China, Leeann’s parents inspired her interest in cooking. Her father, a grocer, introduced her to a wide array of vegetables, meats, sauces and spices; while at mealtime, her mother demonstrated the subtle Chinese art of creating delicious and attractive dishes balancing food texture, color and flavor. Leeann immigrated to Minneapolis in 1956 with her family. While raising five children, Leeann ran a small sewing business out of her home. She would often prepare traditional Chinese dishes for her customers as a gesture of appreciation. Once they discovered Leeann’s hidden culinary talent and gift for entertaining, these customers encouraged her to teach them her recipes and cater local events and dinner parties. Guided by her understanding of local tastes and a desire to share her recipes with others, Leeann opened her first restaurant in Minneapolis in 1980. People instantly embraced Leeann’s innovative buffet concept and her signature Chinese cuisine. At the same time, Leeann co-authored her first of two top-selling cookbooks containing her recipes, Betty Crocker’s Chinese Cookbook: Recipes by Leeann Chin. To meet the growing needs of on-the-go customers, Leeann opened quick service locations offering convenient in-store seating, followed by deli-style grocery carryouts. These Leeann Chin locations continually win local media awards for "Best Take Out," "Best Chinese Food" and "Best Restaurant Design." Leeann has been recognized on a local and national level with several prestigious awards including being named Minnesota’s "Entrepreneur of the Year" (1993) and "Business Owner of the Year" by the National Association of Women Business Owners (1988). Leeann also served on a U.S. Labor panel commissioned by the White House in 1995. To Leeann, community involvement is part of being a good neighbor. She is dedicated to the communities where she operates her restaurants, participating in organizations such as community development committees, diversity advocacy groups and the arts. She is a member of the Committee of 100, an honor bestowed on outstanding Chinese Americans such as I.M. Pei and Yo Yo Ma. Ms. Chin has also won many local awards including: "Best Chinese Food" Mpls. St. Paul Diner’s Choice Award, 1986-98 Minnesota Monthly Reader’s Restaurant Survey, 1990-94 City Pages Best of the Twin Cities Award, 1993. "Best Take Out" Mpls. St. Paul Diner’s Choice Award, 13 years, 1985-1998 City Pages Best of the Twin Cities Award, 1991-93. Today, Leeann is still the guiding force behind her restaurant, and is as passionate about her business as the day she started. While her company continues to grow, Leeann’s founding principles will never change: she is still serving delicious contemporary Chinese cuisine - much to customers’ delight. Sara Moulton and Ruthie Adler: Sara began her culinary career at the Culinary Institute of America, graduating in 1977. Upon graduation, she dove into the restaurant business, working at Harvest Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, La Tulipe in New York City, and back in Boston at Cybele's earning three-stars (The Boston Globe).
The late seventies and early eighties were exciting and busy years for Sara. In 1979, Sarah began working behind the scenes for Julia Child as associate chef of the acclaimed PBS series, Julia Child and More Company. In 1982 she co-founded the New York's Women's Culinary Alliance, a network of female culinary professionals organized to provide advice, support and roundtable exchanges of ideas and information. Sara was the Executive Chef of ABC-TV's Good Morning America, working behind the scenes with the show's guest chefs. Today she shares her culinary and television talents on America's only interactive cooking show, Cooking Live! on the Food Network. She is also the executive chef of Gourment magazine. Sara has been twice nominated for The James Beard Foundation Award for the "Best National Cooking Show", she was chosen as Julia Child's protégé by Julia herself in the Arts category of The Sara Lee Frontrunners Award. She has also been honored by The Culinary Institute of America as one of their "Great Chefs"; by Johnson and Whales University as a Distinguished Visiting Chef; and by the Roundtable for Women in Foodservice with a Woman of Distinction Award. Sara will be joined by her daughter Ruthie.
America's "First Lady" of Italian cuisine and restaurants. Lidia is the host of a 52-part public television series entitled "Lidia's Italian Table: Italian-American Favorites." Lidia is the author of two cookbooks, Lidia's Italian Table and Lidia's Flavors of Italy. A third cookbook is scheduled for release this Autumn. A native of Istria, Lidia's recipes and culinary inspiration derive from her homeland, near the juncture of Italy and former Yugoslavia. She has lived in the U.S. since 1958. She has a son Joseph and a daughter Tanya, both of whom are passionately involved in the culinary arts. She owns several restaurants with her son, and Tanya manages Esperienze Italiane Travel, an agency offering unique trips for discerning travelers interested in experiencing the food, wine and culture of Italy
Sarabeth Levine and Jennifer Firestone: In 1981, Sarabeth, with an investment of $100 for fruit and supplies, started marketing her Orange Apricot Marmalade. The Marmalade, which is based on a 200 year-old secret, family recipe, was an instant success. Sarabeth opened a small bakery kitchen on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The few tables followed at this bakery led to her opening a full-scale restaurant across the street from the bakery kitchen on Amsterdam Avenue and West 80th Street. Today, Sarabeth and her husband Bill have three restaurants that serve her delicious creations for breakfast, lunch, weekend brunch, and dinner.
In 1996, Sarabeth was given the prestigious "Pastry Chief of the Year Award by
the James Beard Society. Her daughter Jennifer will be joining her mother tonight.
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Zarela Martínez and Marissa Sanchez, one of this generation's
leading U. S. restaurateurs, was born and raised in Mexico but began cooking professionally
during the late 1970's in El Paso, Texas. With the encouragement of Paul
Prudhomme and Craig Claiborne, who had been impressed by her vivid Mexican food,
she made some nationally noted guest-chef appearances and in 1983 moved her business
to New York. Here she quickly made her mark as menu-designer and later executive
chef for Cafe Marimba, the city's first serious attempt to recreate regional
Mexican cuisine with local resources. A loyal following of diners and food
writers responded eagerly when in 1987 she decided to start her own restaurant,
