![\"Premier](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/IMG_9884-Final-5.jpg\" "\\"IMG_9884-Final-5\\"")
<\/a>Food and wine aficionados will have a chance to savor cuisine from more than 70 of San Diego\u2019s top restaurants and chefs during the 19th annual Mama\u2019s Day event, May 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency La Jolla Aventine. <\/p>\nProceeds from the upscale tasting, considered to be one of San Diego\u2019s premier culinary f\u00eates, benefit Mama\u2019s Kitchen, which delivers nutritious meals to people living with HIV\/AIDS or cancer throughout the county \u2013 three times a day, seven days a week. <\/p>\n
The event will include a variety of food, wine, gourmet coffee and dessert, live music, and a silent auction and prize drawings, including gourmet gift baskets, dinners at local restaurants and skybox seats for Padres games.<\/p>\n
Local television personality Vic Salazar will serve as emcee, and Sam Zien, a.k.a. \u201cSam the Cooking Guy\u201d of Discovery Health channel, returns as the event\u2019s culinary ambassador, mingling with guests throughout the evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful opportunity for \u2018Sam the Cooking Guy\u2019 fans to meet and chat him up, as he is very accessible,\u201d said Scott Gardner, president of the organization\u2019s board of directors. \u201cHe\u2019s a wonderful supporter of Mama\u2019s Kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guests will have a chance to win one of two \u201cwine vaults\u201d filled with 24 bottles of premium wine, including an eclectic array of varietals from Robert Foley Vineyards, Kistler Vineyards, Stags\u2019 Leap Winery, Ca\u2019Marcanda and others.<\/p>\n
New participants this year include Starlite, Bing Crosby\u2019s Restaurant and Piano Lounge, Bice Ristorante, Rama restaurant, Eclipse Chocolat, El Vitral Restaurant and Tequila Lounge, Celadon, Prepkitchen, Toast Enoteca & Cucina and Vela at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have some of the most cutting-edge chefs, restaurants and catering operations in the city,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a (combination of) competition and camaraderie. There\u2019s a sort of unspoken competition to capture the greater San Diego foodie population\u2019s attention. It really lets the chefs be in a chef\u2019s playground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schulyer Schultz, executive chef of Bing Crosby\u2019s in Fashion Valley, will serve a grilled steak salad with spring greens, sherry vinaigrette, Kalamata olives and blue cheese. <\/p>\n
Bing Crosby\u2019s general manager, Chris Enea, has worked at restaurants in the past that participated in Mama\u2019s Day and thought it would be a good way to give back to the community and promote his business.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe customers at previous restaurants I worked at really thought it was a great thing to do,\u201d Enea said. <\/p>\n
Alberto Cortes, executive director of Mama\u2019s Kitchen, said this year\u2019s event has drawn a record number of culinary artists. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve never had over 70 restaurants participating,\u201d Cortes said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s good news for the organization, which has been impacted by the economy and saw a decrease in attendance at last year\u2019s event, which reaped about $170,000. <\/p>\n
Organizers hope to raise $185,000 this year. Proceeds from the event account for 15 to 20 percent of the organization\u2019s annual budget, which includes 10 paid staff members. Mama\u2019s Kitchen also runs a food bank for people living with AIDS. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes about $2 million a year to run this organization,\u201d said Cortes, one of three senior staff members who took a 5 percent pay cut last year due to the economy. Other staff members have seen their salaries frozen for close to 18 months, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping last year was the most difficult year,\u201d Cortes said. \u201cEvery dollar these days is more difficult to raise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The high-profile event, considered a \u201cfriend-raiser\u201d as much as a fund-raiser, also gives the organization a chance to broadcast its name and mission to potential private and corporate donors, Cortes said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so critical to have the word out so that we can be on people\u2019s radar when they\u2019re considering what organizations they\u2019re going to support,\u201d Cortes said.<\/p>\n
Between 2008 and 2009, the number of clients receiving home-delivered meals from Mama\u2019s Kitchen increased by 25 percent, from 605 to 759. <\/p>\n
\u201cLast year the pantry saw more visits than we had ever seen \u2013 over 4,200,\u201d Cortes said. \u201cThe first year we offered the pantry, in 2004, there were about 2,300 visits.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though donations to the food bank were down considerably last year, the number of volunteers actually increased, Cortes said. The organization currently has about 650 volunteers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were able to finish the year providing 17 percent more meals on a budget that was hundreds of thousands of dollars less,\u201d Cortes said. \u201cVolunteers put in a little over 100,000 miles traveling to deliver food, and just shy of 30,000 hours. If we didn\u2019t have the volunteers and the benefit of the hours and the efforts they put in, it would have cost us an additional $750,000 in 2009.\u201d <\/p>\n
Laurie Styron, an analyst with charityworks.org, said organizations across the country such as Mama\u2019s Kitchen have been seeing an increase in volunteers during the down economy. <\/p>\n
\u201cSome of it is certainly altruism, but another aspect of it is people are just available when previously they haven\u2019t been,\u201d Styron said. \u201cPeople who\u2019ve been unable to find work are using volunteering as an opportunity to gain valuable experience to improve their resume or, in some cases, they\u2019re looking for networking opportunities. It\u2019s definitely better than sitting at home waiting for a job to come to you.\u201d<\/p>\n