Upcoming Events
GREENFIELD, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 16-19 2021
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - November 2021
SAN MIGUEL de ALLENDE, MEXICO - JANUARY 2022
BALLYMALOE, IRELAND - NOVEMBER 2022
DUNEDIN - NEW ZEALAND TBD
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September 16-19, 2021 The Great Conjunction
Featuring -
Chef Selene of talamura culinary
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Venue -
Mesa del Sol Estate – Greenfield, California –
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A full weekend of feasting, indulgence, and relaxation in the secluded eastern foothills of the Santa Lucia mountains. With a focus on locally procured organic produce and sustainably sourced meats and seafood you will enjoy family style dinners, breakfast buffets and daily snacks and treats throughout the stay.
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Accommodations for this exclusive event are included in your ticket. Please see house stay instructions and rules here
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Wine tasting excursion with safe transportation extra
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Our Chef Partners
are where the passion begins
Chef Jeremiah Tower
featured guest chef
Jeremiah Tower began his culinary career in 1972 as co-owner and executive chef of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. That was followed by other restaurants, including the famous Stars in San Francisco, the Peak Café in Hong Kong, and more Stars in Singapore and Manila. Tower sold the Stars group in 1998.
Tower has written eight books, including as co-author with Richard Olney of the Time Life Books’ thirty volumes of The Good Cook, the 1986 James Beard Foundation winner Jeremiah Tower New American Classics, and California Dish, awarded in 2013 one of “ten best culinary memoirs.” Also, Table Manners: How to Behave in the Modern World and Why Bother (2016), Start the Fire (2017), a history of the American food revolution, and the 2018 e-book Flavors of Taste.
Some awards are the 1993 JBF “Regional Best Chef California;” JBF “Outstanding Chef in America” in 1996; Nation’s Restaurant News Fine Dining Hall of Fame 1991; honorary degree from the C.I.A.; and patron of the Oxford Cultural Collective. Tower is a Board member of the Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, and Hall of Fame for both Nation’s Restaurant News and the American Culinary Federation.
Recent activities include the 2017 release of the full-length documentary about
Tower called The Last Magnificent produced by Anthony Bourdain for CNN. As keynote speaker at MAD with chef René Redzepi; Guest of honor at Chef’s Roll in Miami; Keynote speaker at the 2019 ACF ChefConnect. Food & Wine Festivals include Pebble Beach, the Oxford University and Blenheim Palace Festivals, and the Hawaiian Wine and Food at the Kahala, and the Chef’s Roll San Diego Dinner Under the Stars.
Chef Donnie Masterton
host chef
Donnie Masterton, the chef who brought global comfort food to San Miguel de Allende, earned his stripes in professional kitchens at a very early age. Beginning at age 15, Masterton apprenticed under chef David Bouley at New York’s Montrachet and it was then and there that he knew he was to be a chef. Donnie’s mentor from the ages of 19 to 27 was the late, great Patrick Clark. He went on to become Chef de Cuisine at Bice in Beverly Hills, The Hay Adams Hotel in D.C., and finally the world-renowned Tavern on the Green in Manhattan.
Donnie then moved west to the Bay Area to open Azie, a highly publicized French Asian concept that garnered exceptional reviews. Masterton then went back to his roots in Los Angeles to work for Joachim Splichal’s Patina Group as Executive Chef, running the 18,000 seat Hollywood Bowl.
Moving to San Miguel de Allende in 2005 was the culmination of his dream to live a simpler life. It was in the charming, much-beloved artistic town of San Miguel de Allende that Donnie’s passion for food and wine evolved into The Restaurant. Donnie is extremely devoted to seeking out the highest quality ingredients, working with local farmers, ranchers, and artisanal cheesemakers, and preparing the ingredients with skill, respect, and simplicity. This is Donnie Masterton’s vision of world-class comfort food.
Air travel
A current passport is required for all travelers exiting and entering the United States.
Please check with your airline for further guidance.
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San Miguel de Allende, Mexico-
There are two airports servicing San Miguel de Allende:
Leon/Bajio Airport (BJX) – 90-minute drive from the city
Queretaro Airport (QRO) – 50-minute drive from the city
Direct flights to these airports are available to and from the following airports:
Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
Dallas, TX (DFW)
Houston, TX (IAH)
Cancun, Quintana Roo (CUN)
Mexico City (MEX)
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More information and links provided by clicking the link below.
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COVID-19 and travel
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico-
Currently there are no restrictions for entering Mexico by air from the United States. There are however, restrictions in place to return. You may be required to submit a negative PCR COVID test with results from within 3 days of your travel into the United States. These regulations are subject to change, please check with your airline for the current restrictions and advisories.
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More detailed information is available by opening the link below:
EVENT SAFETY
We are so excited to finally after over a year get back to entertaining and hospitality. This is certainly a time of celebration. Of course and as always the health, safety, wellbeing, and enjoyment of our guests and of our team members is of the utmost importance.
In the interest of simplifying our protocols for this event we are leaning upon the recommendations of our home state of California to guide us as well as the local regulations of our host locations.
For your safety all of our reservations and ticketing with be contactless and online.
All guests will be registered in a temporary database for the purpose of keeping in contact should an infection occur.
Temperatures will be taken at beginning of each dinner and sanitation stations will be provided throughout the facility.
Masks must be worn at all times when not seated. While the Friday dinner will be a long table format and seating will be maintained at 70% capacity.
Our Event Sponsors
Our story began in the Salinas Valley, affectionately called America’s Salad Bowl. It was here, where Bruce Taylor followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and became the third generation to work in the fresh produce business.In 1995, Bruce and several partners founded Taylor Fresh Foods. A new company with a new vision was born – to be North America’s favorite maker of salads and healthy fresh foods. We’ve come a long way since our humble roots, growing our business to 20,000 employees with care and purpose like we do our products. It is thanks to our team’s dedication that we are able to make wholesome fresh foods that nourish families across the country. The family spirit drives every attribute of our company and is the driver of our success.
Local producers of artisianal Mescal, infusions and distilations in San Felipe, Guanajuato Mexico
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Somos productores de mezcal hecho artesanalmente en Vergel de la Sierra, San Felipe, GTO
Centered in California, Chef Works is not your normal, routine uniform manufacturer. With beginnings that date back to the 1960’s, they've been an industry leader in the design, development and management of uniform and culinary apparel programs across the globe.
Their mission is to provide all our clients with new, innovative, high-quality products at competitive prices along with the tools needed to manage any uniform program; no matter the size. Chef Works is dedicated to delivering a solution that will fit any business and uniform program and is committed to consistently delivering quality, service, value, and style to our all customers and partners.
Caviar is practically synonymous with fabulous wealth and extravagance. Our luxurious eggs are harvested by hand from a slow-producing, 10 year old farm-raised sturgeon. Next, they are meticulously seasoned and aged to the perfect flavor and consistency. Celebrated by Top Chefs and home culinary masters, Passmore Caviar is recognized as some of the finest and best tasting caviar in the world.
The Talamura Story and Team
2020 really gave the event community an immense sucker punch to the gut in a way we could never have imagined. One minute we were elbows deep in planning and executing magical experiences for thousands of eager guests and the next we were completely and totally scuttled with no hope in sight. We have shifted and hustled for the past year doing whatever we could do keep busy in whatever way we could knowing with insane optimism that someday and somehow the show would go on. Around January when rumors of a vaccine began to surface an escape plan was hatched. What was at first just a casual telephone call to friends abroad to ferment a scheme to "just get out of town" very quickly ramped up into developing a series of inspired culinary experiences. If you have that introverted friend that insists on being in the kitchen at social functions you may have an idea of how this was conceived. We had all the ingredients for something truly special and the only way we could imagine this adventure was to make it a party and invite others to enjoy it. I have had the great fortune of working on some truly inspiring projects while networking with many influential and creative individuals along the way. I believe in the power of working together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
These people are my tribe and I am so lucky.
mama chef selene
Chef Selene Johnson
30 years in the kitchen includes the dish pit, the pastry kitchen, pantry sections, hotlines, concession catering, fine dining and banquets. The “office” is just as likely to be a farm field as a 5 star hotel suite, winery, airport hanger, a super bowl stadium or your own house.
As a chef mercenary primarily for high end events and festivals for up to 5000 guests since 1998 Selene has had the honor to work with some the hardest hitters in the industry, dozens of whom are Michelin star and James Beard awardees. Dropping names like they're hot, she would describe her training as a constant trial by fire in some of the highest pressure situations. Nicknamed the “chef whisperer” her pride comes from getting done the nearly impossible in extraordinary circumstances.
Due to her close relationships with farmers and producers as well as chefs her personal culinary style is derived from a sense of responsibility in allowing the best products to shine. Simplicity, playfulness and tradition are all words to describe her own cooking and she is best described by those who know her well as having an insatiable curiosity in all things.
Dorothy Maras
Forty plus years in the hospitality industry in virtually every position possible - from working the line in the kitchen to front of the house management, marketing, operations, and completing her wine certification courses has given Dorothy varied and vast skillsets.
As the Senior Culinary Director for the past 14 years of two of the largest and most highly acclaimed Food & Wine Festivals in the U.S. she is tasked with locating 125 or more of the finest culinary talents both in the US and abroad for each event. Notable chefs she has worked with include – Jeremiah Tower, Jacques Pepin, Alain Passard, Francis Mallmann, Daniel Boulud, Eric Ripert, Daniel Humm, Christopher Kostow, and Food Network stars Guy Fieri, Giada De Laurentiis, Tyler Florence, Masaharu Morimoto as well as hundreds more Michelin Starred Chefs and James Beard Award Winners.
All culinary operations including - event concepting, website descriptors for each event, equipment needs, ordering over 20 tons of food products, sponsor relations, chef coats, credentials and event signage, menu descriptors and the complex logistics of moving food to 8 different venues, fall under her team’s workload at these 4-day culinary extravaganzas that thousands of guests attend.
Dorothy prides herself on insuring visiting chefs feel welcomed and looked after before, during and after
each event. She also believes that you are only as good as the team you select to work with, and her
team are the best from top to bottom and start to finish.
Hector Sandoval - SANDOVAL MEDIA
Hector Sandoval has been a media content creator for the past 30 years in the fields of advertising, graphic design, photography, and documentaries through his Los Angeles-based companies SANDOVAL MEDIA / MOMENTOUS iMAGES.
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He has covered and captured some of the most prestigious food & wine events. The San Sebastian Gastronomika, Pebble Beach Food & Wine, Bordeaux féte le Vin, Los Angeles Food & Wine, East L.A. Meets Napa AltaMed, Sysco Foods Events, Valle Food and Wine Fest, Sabor Tijuana, LearnAboutWine, and wineLA.
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Hector Sandoval on photo editorial and documentary directing assignments has photographed and filmed some of the most influential figures of our time. President Barack Obama, Pope Francis & John Paul II, President Fidel Castro, rock band The Rolling Stones, singer Plácido Domingo, film directors George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, David Lynch, Quentin Tarantino, Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu, TV producer Norman Lear, chefs Thomas Keller, José Andrés, Daniel Boulud, Elena Arzak, Jeremiah Tower, Pedro Subijana, Activist Dolores Huerta, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, actors Barbra Streisand, Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, photographer Alberto Korda, billionaire Ricardo Salinas, rock band Metallica, music producer Russell Simmons, singer Carlos Santana and Rock en Español band MANA are a small representation of those individuals.
Betsy McNair
