SEVENTH ANNUAL PEBBLE BEACH FOOD & WINE
BENSPUNGIN
CALSTAMENOV
Chef Ben Spungin started his culinary career at sixteen working at the acclaimed Fosters Market. This experience of ‘simple harvest food’ gave Ben a foundation to base his ideals and ambitions. In 1996, Ben attended the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont earning his Associates degree. Ben’s school internship was at the Magnolia Grill in Durham under James Beard award winning Chefs Ben and Karen Barker. After finishing school in 1998, a spontaneous opportunity opened at the French Laundry to work under Pastry Chef Stephen Durfee and Pastry Sous Shuna Lydon.
Cal Stamenov has created an innovative culinary concept for Bernardus Lodge featuring California country cuisine in the main Marinus dining room at Bernardus Lodge. Wickets bar and bistro features bistro-style cuisine in a light and casual setting.
In 2000, Spungin accepted the Pastry Chef position at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, California, where he quickly developed an interest in working with wild and foraged ingredients. In 2005, Spungin moved on to become the Pastry Chef at the Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley, CA, where he worked alongside Chef Cal Stamenov to develop pastry creations that complement the signature coastal cuisine. During his eight years with Stamenov, Spungin built relationships with many local foragers and farmers to create dishes that reflect the region’s bold, seasonal flavors. Spungin now brings this local focus and vast expertise to Coastal Luxury Management’s restaurant portfolio, as their Corporate Executive Pastry Chef, with his menu of reinvented classics with a playful punch.
Marinus at Bernardus Lodge has been enjoying high praise since the resort opened in 1999, and has won Wine Spectator Magazine’s highly coveted “Grand Award” for its wine cellar since 2001. Since 1981, only 89 restaurants from 12 countries have earned the “Grand Award,” an honor bestowed every three years. The cellar houses 1,850 different wines and a total of more than 35,000 premium bottles, including 10,000 bottles from the affiliated Bernardus Winery & Vineyard near the resort. Since 2001, the Zagat Survey has noted Marinus as one of the “Top Restaurants” and “Most Romantic Places South of San Francisco.”
1.) Friday, April 11 12:00 PM - The 4 Martini Lunch at Restaurant 1833 2.) Saturday, April 12 12:00 PM - Lexus Grand Tasting Saturday
Upon graduating from the California Culinary Academy, Stamenov began his career in 1982 at New York’s famed Four Seasons restaurant. He is steeped in the European tradition of culinary artistry and has spent years in the most demanding kitchens of the world’s most renowned chefs.
Cal’s philosophy and style of cooking is built on three central pillars: the relationship between food and terroir, the superiority of handcrafted, artisanal products over mass-produced, and the common sense of glorifying food when its flavor is at its peak.
1.) Thursday, April 10 6:00 PM - Opening Night Reception
110 PBFW | 2014