The dinner and auction, helmed by chefs and restaurateurs, raised $5.7 million
Words by CATHERINE BIGELOW
In most kitchens, Sunday is typically chef’s night off. But for the past 37 years, top Bay Area toques, star sommeliers, and primo vintners turn out in force at Festival Pavilion in Fort Mason Center to lend their prodigious culinary talents in support of Meals on Wheels San Francisco.
On Monday, May 18, the black-tie dinner and auction raised a whopping $5.7 million in support of the nonprofit’s annual mission to provide more than 2 million meals and companionship to housebound or vulnerable seniors.
“In this time of uncertainty, when public support is at risk, we can provide a senior with dignity, meals, and wraparound services for an entire year — an equivalent cost to just one day in the hospital or one week in a nursing home,” CEO Jennifer Steele said. “Meals on Wheels is more than a meal delivery service; it’s a lifeline.”
Corralling kitchen types is no easy feat. In his first year as MOW chef chairman (but his twentieth year as a participant), restaurateur Stuart Brioza (chef-owner of State Bird Provisions), along with Debbie Zachareas (owner of Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant), rallied their troops of more than 150 culinarians to the cause.
Yet that figure did not include a legion of volunteers who assisted in the prep to create six unique, four-course wine-paired menus, each designed by six different chefs, for 675 dinner guests.
And that’s not all: Led by honorary cochairs Pantea and Vishal Grover, this gourmet bacchanalia kicked off with a delectable reception of hors d’oeuvres and primo vino for VIP revelers, who happily grazed among an array of stellar sips (The Mascot, RAEN, JCB, Scribe, La Sirena) and epicurean nibbles (Bix, Liholiho Yacht Club, Colibri, 7 Adams, Izzy’s), as well as a 5-foot-wide pan serving up the signature by Paella del Reyes.
Amid a raft of luxe culinary-themed lots, former longtime MOW chef chairman Nancy Oakes donated two priceless luncheons at her Boulevard Restaurant. And auctioneer Lydia Fenet had her work cut out for her as she tracked a frenzy of bids, especially for a dinner in Healdsburg at the three-Michelin star SingleThread — hosted by chef-owner Kyle Connaughton, along with his fellow Michelin-star chefs Val Cantu (Californios) and Richard Lee (Saison). But at least 30 supporters were guaranteed a seat at one table: by bidding $6K per couple, they will dine at Brioza’s Michelin-starred restaurant, The Progress, for a private Star Chefs’ Dinner.
For chef Thomas McNaughton, owner-founder of the Flour + Water Hospitality Group, it was his fourteenth year volunteering — a benchmark shared, and even exceeded, by many of his brethren.
“This is by far the coolest event we do here in San Francisco because there’s a sense of camaraderie that goes on in this massive kitchen that you don’t typically see at large fundraisers,” he noted. “There’s so many chefs here, hopping around and helping each other. Sunday is normally my night off. But supporting a cause like Meals on Wheels re-energizes me: it’s food for the soul.”
May 21, 2025
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