I just got back from the 1st Annual Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival, what a blast! Only the James Beard Awards in New York City could have a guest list like this one… Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, Michel Richard, Todd English and Masaharu Morimoto were just a small handful of the great chefs in town for this event. And then there was me, the lone Texas Chef in town!

The opening night of this event was on March 27th, a Thursday. So I was all excited, packed up and ready to go! Then, on Wednesday (my departure day), American Airlines cancelled over 200 flights, and wouldn’t you know, one of them was mine. I was pushed back to a morning flight for the following day (Thursday). I thought to myself, “No problem — event starts Thursday at 6pm, maybe I’ll still make it”.

My Sous Chef for this event was Brian Bell, (I always call him Mr. Bell); he worked with me at Abacus for about three years, and since then has been living in Miami. Mr. Bell had no problem flying out of Miami and got to Pebble Beach on Wednesday night. When I told him there were flight issues in Dallas he didn’t panic and just began to find out about location of food, prep kitchens, etc.

Here is where it gets disappointing. Thursday morning around 4am my cell phone rings…Who is it? American Airlines, canceling my flight AGAIN! This time rescheduled for 5pm Thursday evening. Okay, now it was time to worry. So later that morning I contacted the operations team in Pebble Beach, letting them know of my situation. Gary Obligacion, VP of Operations, tells me with the calmest voice, “The show must go on”. I let Mr. Bell sleep until 8am, then called him and told him that it was now up to him to make it happen. My dish for opening night was Seared Wild King Salmon on top of Chipotle Jack Cheese Grits and Tequila Lime Sauce. The Pebble Beach Resort had already brought in all the ingredients needed, and with a few phone calls, I was able to arrange some assistance for Mr. Bell and he assured me all would be fine.

I finally arrived at Pebble Beach Resort for the event around 9pm on Thursday night. As my driver drops me off at the hotel and tells me “Enjoy the party!”, I just smiled at him and grinded my teeth. Once inside, I was quickly approached by three women asking “Where were you?”. They continue to tell me that the salmon and grits from my station was the best thing of the night. Next, Mr.Bell walks over looking like he has just finished running a marathon. I gave him a hug and a big “THANK YOU!” for holding it down for me. We headed to the ballroom where the opening party was held; it was quite an impressive site! My booth had a huge picture of me above it, and Mr. Bell begins to tell me how he had to explain all night that(1) he was not Tre Wilcox, and (2) Tre’s flight had been delayed and that was why I was not present, and (3) No, he has no idea when I’d arrive!

On Friday, I participated in the Lexus Chef’s Table Friday Lunch. The four-course lunch was prepared right in front of the 150+ guests. The Chefs who were part of my luncheon included Masaharu Morimoto of Iron Chef America, Michael Ginor of Hudson Valley Foie Gras and Pastry Chef Ben Spungin of Marinus. What a great experience, working next to chefs of this caliber. Morimoto was great, a surprisingly quiet guy - guess he let’s his food speaks for him! I was very happy with the turn out of the lunch dish: Seared Sea Scallops with Chanterelles, Spinach and Black Truffle Sauce. The guests were even happier and enjoyed watching all the chefs work together.
The next day we took part in the Lexus Grand Tasting, which had approximately twenty-five Chefs preparing one or two bite tasting plates. This event had some 2500 people come through — all I know is we went through 100 lbs. of tuna in about two hours! Tuna dish was a success: Seared Rare Ahi Tuna with Shittake Mushroom Sauce and Yuzu Crème Fraiche.

And just like that, it was departure day. Mr. Bell left for the airport around 4:30am(Ouch!) and I left around 2pm. While waiting at the airport in Carmel I had the chance to speak with Michel Richard. What a character and a great Chef he is. He shared some food ideas, restaurant stories and beliefs with me. By far the number one thing Michel told me that will stick with me for the rest of my life is that he realizes he is only one man, one Chef, and he knows that without his team of Chefs behind him, he is nothing. This was something that I was happy I kinda knew already, but hearing from a Chef of his statue confirmed it for me….

Funny, Mr.Bell proved this theory to be true as well — a Chef is nothing without his team!

To wrap it up. . .the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival has been one of the biggest highlights on my calendar for quite some time. The memories of this event will stick with me for quite some time. It’s not every day that you get to go cook in one of the most beautiful places in the world with some of the best Chefs this world has to offer.