2013 twelve days of christmas: save the dates…

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For the past five years, Christopher Kostow, chef of the three Michelin-starred The Restaurant at Meadowood has hosted an extraordinary series of dinners known as the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”  Every December, it brings a holiday wish list of the world’s best chefs to the restaurant, which is located on the breathtaking property of Meadowood Napa Valley, a Relais & Châteaux resort in St. Helena, California.

Last year, when Kostow invited me to attend the Twelve Days of Christmas (here’s a recap, with links to all twelve dinners), he told me that it would be his last year hosting the event.  I didn’t say much about his decision until the end of the series, when, impressed by the experience, I urged him to reconsider (I’m sure I was not alone in doing so).  I’m glad he did.

The chef alumni of this dinner series comprise an amazing collection of the most relevant and current names in kitchens across the world: Enrique Olvera, Mathias Dahlgren, John and Karen Shields, Sean Brock, Gabriel Rucker, David Toutain, and April Bloomfield are among the dozens of names that this event has brought to Napa Valley over the past five years.

I am happy to announce that this year, Kostow adds eleven more to the list.

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The Twelve Days of Christmas has not only become a showcase of food and wine, but, more importantly, it has become a platform for building awareness about the Napa Valley community that surrounds and supports Kostow and his restaurant.

In past years, part of the proceeds of the dinner series benefitted Share Our Strength, a national, nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger.  However, this year, Kostow decided to move the cause closer to home.  Twenty percent of the dinner ticket proceeds of the 2013 Twelve Days of Christmas will benefit two Napa Valley organizations: the Holly Cranston Memorial Fund, an organization that assists local families whose special needs are not met by traditional sources of assistance; and NEWS (Napa Emergency Women’s Services), which provides a refuge for women and children suffering from domestic violence and/or sexual assault.

As well, this year’s eleven guest chefs will spend time getting to know the community and relationships that are important to Kostow.  The chefs will visit a Montessori school, where Kostow and the school are teaching students about sustainable agriculture by growing vegetables on land set aside by the school.  The guest chefs will be invited to hand-pick produce for their dinners from this garden.

Kostow’s community also includes the Culinary Institute of America, which will again host a special lecture series at its Greystone campus in St. Helena, where some of this year’s guest chefs will be invited to speak.

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This year’s Twelve Days of Christmas welcomes a diverse group of chefs to Napa Valley.  They come from every corner of America, as well as two other continents.  Familiar with all of them, some more than others (I have visited the restaurants of ten of the twelve chefs, and have eaten the food of eleven of them), I’m particularly excited about this year’s dinner series.  I look forward to spending more time with each of them, and experiencing more of their cooking in December, when I will, again, be attending and photographing all twelve dinners.

Each of the multi-course dinners will be the product of a collaboration among the guest chef, Kostow, and a guest vintner at The Restaurant at Meadowood.  In addition to the sixty-eight seats in the dining room, this year, Kostow will, again, make four seats at the chefs’s counter in the kitchen available.  For all pricing and reservation information about these dinners, please visit the The 2013 Twelve Days of Christmas page on the Restaurant at Meadowood’s website.

Without more, I am pleased to have the privilege of announcing the guest chefs, vintners, and schedule for the sixth annual Twelve Days of Christmas (I’ve hyperlinked the restaurant and vintner names to their websites).

Please save the dates.

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Friday, December 6

ANDY RICKER
pok pok
Portland, Oregon and Brooklyn, New York

Mike Grgich and Violet Grgich
Grgich Hills Estate

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Saturday, December 7

RODOLFO GUZMAN
Boragó
Santiago, Chile

Juan Mercado
Realm Cellars

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Tuesday, December 10

CARLO MIRARCHI
Roberta’s and blanca
Brooklyn, New York

Andrew Mariani and Adam Mariani
Scribe Winery

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Wednesday December 11

TIM CUSHMAN
o ya
Boston, Massachusetts

Stephen Martin and Dennis O’Neil
Checkerboard Vineyards

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Thursday December 12

ASHLEY CHRISTENSEN
Poole’s Downtown Diner
Raleigh, North Carolina

Freddy Constant
Constant, Diamond Valley Vineyard

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Friday, December 13

DAVID CHANG
momofuku
New York, New York
Sydney, Australia
Toronto, Canada

Larry Turley
Turley Winery

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Saturday, December 14

MATTHEW ACCARINO
SPQR
San Francisco, California

Tuck & Boo Beckstoffer
Tuck Beckstoffer Wines

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Tuesday, December 15

MARK LADNER & BROOKS HEADLEY
Del Posto
New York, New York

Glenn Salva
Antica Napa Valley, Antinori Family Estate

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Wednesday, December 18

RASMUS KOFOED
Geranium
Copenhagen, Denmark

George Peterson
Spring Mountain Vineyard

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Thursday, December 19

NICOLAUS BALLA & CORTNEY BURNS
Bar Tartine
San Francisco, California

Lily and Jon Berlin
El Molino Winery

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Friday, December 20

DAVID KINCH
Manresa
Los Gatos, California

May-Britt and Denis Malbec
Notre Vin, Malbec and Malbec Cellars

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Saturday, December 21

CHRISTOPHER KOSTOW
The Restaurant at Meadowood
St. Helena, California

H. William and Deborah Harlan
Harlan Estate

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Photos: John Shields and Christopher Kostow toasting at the Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena, California; Stuart Brioza of State Bird Provisions shows off the California State Bird, with Nicole Krasinski at the Restaurant at Meadowood, St. Helena, California; Matthias Merges of Yusho and Christopher Kostow at the garden at the Montessori of St. Helena, St. Helena, California.