Don’t miss the opportunity to attend the foodie feast of the year, Santa Barbara’s 5th annual Taste of the Nation at the Montecito Country Club on May 20! The funds raised at the event will benefit Share Our Strength’s efforts to end childhood hunger in America and support the local beneficiary, Foodbank of Santa Barbara County.
Attendees will enjoy an array of select wines and special dishes prepared by over 25 of Santa Barbara’s top restaurants, including a dish prepared by Mossin Sugich, the executive chef at Blush Restaurant, who is participating in Taste of the Nation for the fifth year in the row. Growing up in the Middle East and Europe, Sugich has witnessed poverty internationally and was raised in a family that valued giving back to the community. “During the holiday season we would buy bags of rice in the Middle East and give them out to the poor and needy,” says Sugich.
An experienced participant of Taste of the Nation, Sugich says, “It’s a great event…There is no reason why independent caterers and restaurants shouldn’t participate.” He attributes the success of the event to the community that many chefs in Santa Barbara share and foster, mentioning good friends like Jessica Knight of Chef Warehouse and Michael Blackwell of the Montecito Country Club–both who constantly inspire him to “try to make this event better every year.”
Coming from a close family who valued both spending time together and experiencing other cultures, Sugich realizes the ability food has to bring people together. From his own experiences, “food and drink always brought people together,” says Sugich. “Not only can food can create a positive atmosphere, but we are raising money for a great cause.”
Guests this year will have the opportunity to enjoy Sugich’s dish: an oven cured fig with a preserved lemon mascarpone cheese on a proscuitto crisp, finished with a chamomile quastrique.
To purchase tickets for Taste of the Nation and support the local Foodbank, click here.
–Colleen Lai
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