Some three hundred restaurateurs and members of their staffs were on hand for the 36th annual Awards Dinner of the Southern California Restaurant Writers. This took place at the East Room of the Richard Nixon Library in Yorba Linda.
Named Restaurateurs of the Year were Harold & Denise Legaux and Al & Sue Honore of Harold & Belle's Restaurant in Los Angeles. Honored as chef of the year was Hugo Molina. Named as Humanitarian of the Year were John and Sally Thornton of the Thornton Foundation and owners of
Thornton Winery and award winning Cafe Champagne.
Other restaurant people singled out for awards were Donatello Barone of Nello's in Costa Mesa as manager of the year, Patrick Kolanski as Food & Beverage Manager of the Year from Erik's Restaurant in Thousand Oaks and Christian Boinard from Renaissance in Hollywood as Pastry Chef of the Year.
Then restaurant owners singled out for five, four, three and two stars awards stepped forward to receive their certificates. The glittering event at the East Room also served to honor the memory of Doris Crandall, founder of the Southern California Restaurant Writers, who died in November 2008.
The Southern California Restaurant Writers is a non-profit organization which each year presents scholarships to culinary arts students enrolled in Southern California Community colleges. This year scholarships wene awarded to students at Orange Coast College, San Bernardino Valley College, Riverside College, Glendale College, and Oxnard College. Over its 36 years as an organization the Restaurant Writers have awarded $125,000 in such scholarships.
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