STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Never mind that it was the first day of summer.

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” blared from the speakers as 250 patrons of the Sun Valley Culinary Institute took their seats inside a—thankfully--heated tent as snow began falling in the mountains north of Ketchum.

“It’s warm in here and we’re going to have a good time,” said Culinary Institute board member Patti McGrath as she greeted attendees who sat down to find HotHands hand warmers at their plates.

The Sun Valley Culinary Institute threw its third annual summer fundraising party, billed as “The Welcome Party,” Saturday night on the expansive deep green lawn of Lisa and Bob Mayer north of Ketchum

Pictures of Sun Valley Culinary Institute student chefs lined the long driveway. And a lovely array of small tents featured hors d’oeuvres prepared by current students, including tasty watermelon squares combined with mozzarella and pesto and wontons boasting ahi tuna poke, shichimi togarashi and pickled onion.

Attractive centerpieces filled with eggplant, grapes and other fruits and vegetables adorned the cocktail tables and dinner tables, ready to be given to The Hunger Coalition following the event.

And James Beard Award-winning chef Jonathan Waxman gave out copies of “The Barbuto Cookbook” to attendees, showing how he elevates simple foods like zucchini and offering  such recipes as Pizza Vovo, which contains baked farm eggs, ricotta and pancetta; Zucchini Caviar; Corn and Tomato Gnocchi and Peach and Blueberry Crostatas.

Waxman, a celebrity TV chef, told the audience how his 50 years of cooking for the likes of John McEnroe started when the band he played in for five years broke up. He began working at the Rusty Harpoon in Hawaii—the site of his last band gig. Then, upon his return to the States, he started selling Ferraris.

When someone noted that he talked about food the way he talked about cars, he asked his father for $6,000 to attend cooking classes at La Varenne Cooking School in Paris.

“My father said, ‘So, when you come back, are you gonna be a chef at Sizzler?’ ”

Sizzler never got him. Instead, he worked at a long list of restaurants that drew oohs and ahhs from the audience at their mention.

In 1979 he and Michael McCarty opened Michael’s Restaurant in a mansion near the Santa Monica beach, and it drew turn-away crowds with its groundbreaking cuisine focusing on fresh seasonal fare. Five years later, he introduced the new California-style cooking in his Jams Restaurant in New York, and Jams became a dining sensation.

“We were the first restaurant in New York to do seasonal food. I have to thank Alice Waters for teaching me about seasonality,” said Waxman, who now owns Barbuto, which means “bearded” in Italian, in Manhattan’s West Village.

Waxman was quick to credit other chefs for the impact they had on his own work, including a Swiss chef at whose table, he said, he used to worship.

“I learned artistry from him. More important, I learned how to work hard from him, and that’s what your kids are learning at this school,” he said, referring to the Culinary Institute.

Those students include Charlotte Monke, who said she loved the opportunity to make five or six recipes a day, oftentimes using ingredients most people don’t have on hand.

“I also loved the field trips to farms like Hillside Grain,” said Monke, who plans to work as a private chef and prep worker following graduation in September. “It was so cool to see their operation.”

“And Reverence Trout Farm,” chimed in Asa Anderon, who dreams of opening his own restaurant featuring elevated food. “It’s interesting to see how they grow such good quality fish.”

Among those in the audience was 18-year-old Echo Fisk, who just graduated from Silver Creek High School and plans to the Sun Valley Culinary Institute next year. Her eyes were big as she saw the hors d’oeuvres that this year’s students prepared.

“This time next year you’ll be doing the exact same thing,” her mother, who decorated cakes for 10 years, told her.

“I want to be a baker. I’m working on a recipe for croissants,” Fisk said. “I’ve mastered cookies, cupcakes and chocolate lava cake. Now, I’m trying to master eclairs and flambe. Leaving high school and taking my next step in life is a little nerve-wracking. But I’m very excited to be part of this school.”

“I’m so proud of her,” added her mother. “She’s going to be an amazing chef.”

Karl Uri, the executive director of the Sun Valley Culinary Institute, noted that five years ago  when the school opened “We were socially distanced and masked. We did not have culinary student program. Look how far we’ve come.”

To help pay for students’ tuition, housing, knife sets and other supplies, the Culinary Institute rolled out an array of live auction lots.

They included four days at the Puerto Rico Wine & Food Festival, which went for $18,000 and a culinary adventure in New York that went for $20,500, offering the bidder three nights at Susan Flynt’s Chelsea apartment and dinner at Waxman’s restaurant.

Six diners put up $5,000 each for a six-day culinary adventure in Thailand, and two bidders offered $20,000 each for a Wine Celler Dinner for 10 at Fiamma in Ketchum.

“I came here three years ago to take part in the Culinary Institute’s Sun Valley Food & Wine Celebration, and now I’m an Idahoan who just bought a house,” Fiamma Chef Britt Rescigno told diners. “Without the Sun Valley Culinary Institute, we would have never known where Idaho was.”

Silent auction items included a 2025-26 Sun Valley Challenger Ski Pass, a Feeding Frenzy at 10 local restaurants, an opportunity to attend the commissioning of the USS Idaho, a Champagne Brunch for 10 with Esta Hornstein and a culinary-influenced watercolor painted by Lisa Holley.

Former Board President Mindy Meads offered 24 diners the opportunity to enjoy a four-course dinner with wine pairings ahead of a Sept. 26 evening at The Argyros featuring world-renowned rhythm dancers Karina Smirnoff and Dimitry Timokhin, along with the newly crowned winners of the just-completed Blackpool Dance Festival—the world’s foremost festival of dance.

“I have a passion for ballroom dancing and this is an exciting new event that’s never been offered here before,” said Meads. “This is the first time they have performed in the United Sates—this is a big deal. 100 percent the proceeds will go to the Culinary Institute.”

Inspired by all the food around her, Elkhorn resident Trudi Schneider shared with tablemates how her German mother made bootleg peach brandy after escaping war-torn Germany and winding up in Georgia. Eventually, her mother was invited by the Smithsonian to share how she made her homemade wine.

“I worked hard to achieve what I did, and now I don’t need anything,” said Schneider, who utilized her fluency in four languages at high-tech companies. “It’s time for me to give back—that’s why I’m supporting the Culinary Institute.”