Desert Spirit: Soul Food In Palm Springs

Most people help friends and neighbors in need as best they can. Contractors build houses for the poor. Dentists fix children’s teeth for free. Families donate used clothing to nonprofit thrift shops. Chefs, well, they raise money for charity by feeding people, and last night’s annual fundraiser for the American Cancer Society was a stellar example of how to feed the soul and the body with inspirational messages paired with signature dishes prepared by a dozen notable local chefs.

Desert Spirit, as the event is called, was the very first restaurant/chef charity extravaganza in the Coachella Valley back when Paul Bruggemans, owner of Le Vallauris in Palm Springs, agreed to help launch it 23 years ago.

This year’s fundraiser was staged inside the cavernous Palm Springs Air Museum, with a roster of restaurants and menus that made me feel like a deer in the headlights—so much food, so little time!  Each restaurant had its own station for serving an appetizer and an entrée, and I’d be amazed if any of the hundreds of
attendees tried them all. 

Chef Tara Lazar of Cheeky’s offered cauliflower panna cotta and ox tails.  Kelly Walling from Cliffhouse Grill+Bar served roasted beet salad and stuffed roast pork loin. Spencer’s Eric Wadlund showcased colossal shrimp cocktails and lobster popsicles. Brian Bennington of Pacifica turned the restaurant’s signature sugar-spiced salmon dish into individual Wellingtons!

Trattoria Tiramisu's Mario Marfia passed trays of appetizers for nibbling. Felipe Castaneda of El Mirasol prepared Moles de Oaxaca, and Kaiser Grille’s Didier Tsirony showed off his signature braised boneless short ribs. Trio’s Mark Van Laanen served up some Yankee pot roast and Wally’s Pascal Lallemand’s appetizer of sautéed duck breast with cherry balsamic reduction was a hit. For people who needed a little sweet after all of those savories, Roman Blas of Over the Rainbow Desserts baked treats like Meyer lemon raspberry bars, "Cruffles” (cupcake truffles), and pie pops, and Jean-Charles Beytrison of Clementine’s  served pear tartlets, cappuccino truffle ice cream, and chocolate bacio de dama cookies. Koffi’s John Abner made sure there was plenty of his renowned specialty coffee to balance the sweets.

Emceed by David Naughton, actor and singer (think “Pepsi” and An American Werewolf in London), the evening featured a live auction hosted by Jenni Pulos from Bravo's Flipping Out (who admitted that her voice sounds like fingernails on a blackboard, but hoped it made people bid fast and furious so she’d be quiet), and entertainment by the "New Sensation" band.

Of course, the evening was not just about dining, it was about supporting the life-saving research that the American Cancer Society does to understand, prevent, and cure cancer. The annual Celebration of Life Award, the highest award presented to a local cancer survivor, was awarded to Krisann Knotaxis, a breast cancer survivor whose passion and work have transformed many lives in the desert communities.  A warm video tribute to philanthropist Jackie Lee Houston, who died in September of pancreatic cancer, reminded us all that cancer does not discriminate.