STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The tent outside Trail Creek Cabin was buzzing with energy, good food and the unmistakable spirit of a community rallying around its next generation of chefs.

The Sun Valley Culinary Institute held its Welcome Party fundraiser Monday night, drawing supporters, chefs and culinary luminaries for an evening that celebrated not just fine cuisine but the transformative power of education.

And what a year ahead it is for the small nonprofit culinary school housed in a historic building on Ketchum's Main Street—the next class is full with a wait list for the first time.

Andrej Dimitrijevski, a Sun Valley employee from Macedonia, greeted guests with a light, refreshing Hugo Spritz made of Prosecco, elderflower, club soda and fresh mint while others served such hors d’oeuvres as tiny tarts filled with brie cream cheese, pistachios and honey.

That’s a good thing for those who call Sun Valley home, said Michael Bakker, the president of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA).

"Who wants to live in a livable community?" Bakker asked the crowd. "How many of you like to dine out? You know what it takes for that? You need great chefs and great cooks.”

The evening could not have been more welcoming with temperatures in the low 70s under a royal blue Sun Valley sky as 200 attendees gathered on the lawn in view of Sun Valley’s iconic Bald Mountain.

Guests perused tables loaded with silent auction items, including a Judith Kindler painting, Lisa Horton bolo tie, six-course Persian dinner for eight donated by Manijeh and Art Brueggeman, and a Biodynamic Wine Collection from Cayuse Vineyard with horse themes.

Dede Huish, Mindy Meads and Joanne Wetherell were among those who turned out under the royal blue Sun Valley sky.

Ahead of a thoughtfully curated meal of flaky moist pan-seared halibut and salted caramel pot de crème that sent diners swooning, Chef Dan Kish, the SVCI’s board chair, told the crowd how he had left his small hometown in Pennsylvania for the Culinary Institute of America with little more than ambition and his father's advice ringing in his ears.

"My father said, ‘Well, if you're a chef, you'll never go hungry," Tisch recalled. "And he was not wrong about that."

Tisch worked his way across the country and through France, started a family, then discovered something unexpected. He loved teaching, and he spent nearly nine years teaching at CIA before moving into administration and curriculum development.

He discovered Sun Valley in 2006, and when the Sun Valley Culinary Institute came into his life in 2019, the pieces fell into place.

Sally Onetto and Victoria McCurley were quick to spot one another after having purchased the same dress earlier in the day at Panache. “This is the first time I’ve been able to get tickets to this event and I’m so excited,” said McCurley.

"Every good thing that happened in my life, I can attribute to the CIA," Tisch said. "And it's such a dream come true to have the CIA come to little old Sun Valley."

Bakker, born and raised in the Netherlands, spent 17 years in food and beverage at Starwood Hotels and Resorts before joining Google where he transformed its Food at Work program. After 12 years at Google, Bakker took over leadership of the 80-year-old CIA with campuses in New York, California, Texas and Singapore and some 55,000 alumni worldwide.

Investing in culinary students is not charity, he told the audience.

"The more great cooks and great chefs you have here in Sun Valley, the better your life will be," Bakker said. "Chefs and culinary leaders are extraordinarily community-oriented. They're the most giving individuals. When you have community events, they will be the first ones to help you with fundraising events. They will be there in times of catastrophe or other emergencies. They're there for you."

Welcome Party co-chairs Patti McGrath and Jana Foushee thanked Coleman Andrews for sharing his Napa Valley Colvin Ridge wines and to Suzanne Long of Fauxliage for real lemon centerpieces that would be donated to the Hunger Coalition after the event.

The CIA, he said, was founded in 1946 by two women--the first female lawyer in Connecticut and the wife of Yale University’s president. They created the school to help returning GIs reenter society after World War II.

"Nothing is more fun than when you see a student start on day one, an 18-year-old, really insecure but passionate about food," Bakker said. "And you see them evolve over the next two or four years. And you see the pride when they walk on stage to get their degree. And you meet their parents and you see what impact you have made on them."

Taking the stage after Bakker was Jon McSpadden, who graduated from SVCI and now works at a fine dining restaurant called Sepia in Chicago while returning regularly to Sun Valley to help out restaurants while getting his mountain life fix.

Britt Rescigno, co-owner of Ketchum’s award-winning Fiamma restaurant, said McSpadden had impressed her when he worked with her at the SVCI’s first Sun Valley Food and Wine Festival.

"Chef, I don't want you to come in early to do all your prep. Can you send me a prep list?" he told her. "When I came in at 9 in the morning, because I never trust anyone, Jon was there. And Jon had all of my prep done. And he came up to me with spoon after spoon after spoon. ‘How does this taste, Chef? Do you like this, Chef? What can I do to change this and make it more perfect?’ "

Karl Uri, the school's executive director, singled out the network of local chef mentors who take students into their kitchens.

"Sometimes when people think of the Sun Valley Culinary Institute, they don't remember that we are first and foremost a culinary school," Uri said. "Really what we are about are the students that we have."

This year's class ranges in age from 18 to 66. Three of the incoming class of 12 have already moved to the valley and are working in local restaurants.

Aracely Prosopia, a graduate of the class of 2024, told the crowd how she came from Peru eight years ago with a dream that began in her grandmother's kitchen. Her grandmother had taught her to cook, preparing food to sell in their community, and Prosopia carried that dream across borders and into the Sun Valley Culinary Institute.

After graduating, Prosopia worked as a sous chef at Enoteca. She now prepares food at Kitchen Kitchens in Ketchum while raising her daughter Naya.

"Eight years ago, when I arrived to this beautiful country, I didn't have any idea about my life like it is today," Prosopia told the crowd. "I started this dream for my grandmother because she always showed me all the cooking skills. I want to say thank you to everybody who made this dream possible. I love to be here and be part of this beautiful institution."

Those in the audience heard the message loud and clear, bidding as much as $23,000 for a Legends dinner paying tribute to Navy SEALs at the legendary French Laundry in Napa Valley. A wine dinner for 12 with Vintage Chef Rodrigo Herrera went for $19,000 twice. And a celestial escape at the new Observatory Sun Valley hotel coupled with two entries into the 2027 Sun Valley Food & Wine Celebration went for $18,000.

“You might think you’re just creating the next generation of chefs, “ Bakker told them. “But not only will these students learn to cook well but they’ll learn transformational life skills, such as how to work under pressure, how to work for others...”