Cape Coral residents Scott and Jenny Kashman have started a revolution of sorts, with the goal of inspiring a love for plant-based cuisine while raising money to advance children’s health care in our region. When the two-day Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest kicks off on Friday, Feb. 24, the Kashmans will co-host one of the 10 extraordinary chef vintner dinners that will dot the Southwest Florida landscape as far south as Naples and north to Useppa Island.
“Jenny and I are so excited to host the first Wine Fest dinner in Cape Coral with David and Christin Collins,” said Scott Kashman, dinner co-host and Chief Acute Care Officer for Lee Health. “Cape Coral has been our home for the past six years, and is a hidden gem to most of Southwest Florida. We are excited to be able to highlight the Cape as we raise money that impacts children’s health care services across the entire Southwest Florida region.”
On Feb. 24, the Kashmans, in collaboration with the Collins, will open up their home for the first chef vintner dinner in Cape Coral since the Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest began, nearly 10 years ago. The couples will uncork the weekend of giving at their chef vintner dinner, where their 40 guests will enjoy a uniquely themed, intimate dining experience presented by locally celebrated chef Timothy Duque of The Westin Cape Coral’s Marker 92, in collaboration with the talented Chef Dustin Valette of Valette from Sonoma County, California. The evening’s featured vintner is Benovia Winery, well-known for its fine, handcrafted pinot noirs, chardonnays and zinfandels, as well as for its continued, generous support of the Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest.
The Kashmans will turn their home in the Rose Garden community of Southwest Cape Coral into a “Haight-Ashbury 60s Revolution.” Envision bunches of wild flowers and a beaded entryway, the perfect photo backdrop as guests enter the ‘60s-themed home. Dressed in retro-inspired fashion, guests will enjoy classic, groovy tunes from the era of peace and love. For dinner, guests will be seated at natural wood farm tables, decorated with a splash of tie dye. The décor and presentation of the entrees will include Micro-green sprouts from Florida Micro Greens located in Cape Coral.
“The ‘60s were all about creating a movement, and our dinner theme supports a movement of its own, incorporating more whole foods and delicious plant-based dishes into our lifestyles,” said co-host Jenny Kashman. “The Chefs have been amazing in creating dishes that really incorporate our theme. We had the opportunity to participate in a tasting with the chefs, and the wines from Benovia are paired beautifully with these dishes.”
Involved in the wine fest for the past three years, Executive Chef Timothy Duque was challenged in designing the menu to keep it both plant-based, as well as within the Haight-Ashbury theme of the evening. In addition to sharing passed appetizers, Chef Duque is offering a five-course dinner, with lots of creativity.
“We will be keeping some of the menu selections plant-based through simple substitutions or omissions of animal based products,” said Chef Duque. “For example, the first course is furikake-crusted Hawaiian ahi tataki, soy kombu emulsion, wakame salad, crispy nori and Homestead avocado. For a vegan option, Chef Dustin Valette is substituting charred pineapple for the tuna. For the fourth course, we are offering a pinot noir-crusted cobia, fermented black garlic, baby pea tendril oil, boniato puree, Chinese long bean knots with colored baby carrots and baby bok choy and the fish can be substituted for a pinot noir-crusted cannellini bean cake. And for dessert, we are preparing a guava soymilk pannacotta, chocolate brownie, blueberry basil sorbet, pumpkin seed toffee bark with tie-dye marshmallow. The marshmallows are traditionally made with gelatin, which is animal based. Through trial and error, with a combination of carrageenan and agar (seaweed-based hydrocolloids), we are able to mimic the effect of gelatin and keep the marshmallow completely plant-based.”
Both chefs carefully selected the menu not only to meet the lifestyle requests of the dinner hosts, but to beautifully pair with the amazing wines from Benovia Winery.
“Benovia wines are incredible, and the owners Joe Anderson and Mary Dewane are delightful people and huge supporters of SWFL Children’s Charities, Inc.,” adds dinner co-host and co-chair of the Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest, Christin Collins. “By offering more of a casual atmosphere, we can allow guests to relax and really enjoy the food and wine. Our selections concentrate on local, farm-to-table ingredients, which will be special for our guests. My husband and I, as well as the Kashmans, follow a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle, so this dinner really ties together both our personal and professional passions. Sharing clean, delicious eating at such a signature event showcases how taking care of yourself can feel good and taste truly scrumptious!
SWFL Children’s Charities Inc.’s annual signature fundraiser, the Southwest Florida Wine & Food Fest, has raised $16 million over the past eight years, making it the most successful fundraising event in Lee County and one of the top-grossing wine fests in the country. The nonprofit, SWFL Children’s Charities, Inc. donates 100 percent of the event proceeds to three local beneficiaries. Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida is the primary beneficiary of the event, and the money raised helps to fund the building of the new family-centered children’s hospital that will provide new and expanded medical services and subspecialty services to children from Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. In addition to providing funds for the new state-of-the-art Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida, SWFL Children’s Charities, Inc. grants funds to Florida SouthWestern State College and Florida Gulf Coast University to provide scholarships and equipment to educate the community’s next generation of pediatric health care professionals. For more information, visit www.swflwinefest.org.
