MEarth's gardens in bloom for return of Sustainable Chef Dinner Series.

With spring just around the corner, MEarth’s campus is blossoming, providing a fitting setting for the return of the environmental education nonprofit’s Sustainable Chef Dinner Series this week.

Chef Todd Fisher—Culinary Vice President for the Folktale Wine Group—oversees the kitchens at Folktale Winery, Seventh & Dolores Steakhouse and The Poke Lab, and on Thursday, Feb. 21, he’ll take over the classroom kitchen at MEarth’s Hilton Bialek Habitat adjacent to Carmel Middle School for a special dinner celebrating the season’s bounty.

“MEarth’s Sustainable Chef Dinners give our community the opportunity to experience an intimate, sustainable, delicious—and healthy—dinner supported by our amazing culinary community in the beautiful LEED-certified green building and gardens at the Hilton Bialek Habitat,” explains Andrea Lewis, president of MEarth’s Board of Directors.

Those organic gardens—tended to by Garden Manager Daniel Brodell Lake—are teeming with a number of fruits and vegetables that Fisher will feature at dinner. Leafy greens like lettuce, kale, cabbage and chard are flourishing. Plump kohlrabi sit on the soil surface while stems of onions and radishes peek from the dirt as the roots ripen below. Lemons and limes dangle from trees. And fragrant herbs—cilantro, dill, oregano, rosemary and more—perfume the wind.

Fisher’s menu will start with a duo of local crudos—raw vermilion rockfish and MEarth radishes with other crisp veggies—followed by green dumplings with MEarth kohlrabi and scallions, then Niman Ranch 28-day dry-aged New York strip loin cooked under coal and served with black garlic-braised fava greens and finished with a chimichurri of MEarth herbs. For the sweet finale, Seventh & Dolores Pastry Chef Adam Wulf will serve a semifreddo of locally foraged candy cap mushrooms. Dinner kicks off at 6pm. Tickets are $75 and available via mearthcarmel.org. Proceeds benefit MEarth’s education programming.

Fisher supports MEarth’s work to educate students about sustainability and our food system. “MEarth allows for kids to see where their food is coming from, to participate in growing the produce to instill a love for healthy food in a delicious way,” he says. “What MEarth provides for these kids is invaluable, and I’m proud to work alongside them. Our children are the most important investment we can make into our future.”

Look for other sustainability-minded chefs to follow Fisher as guest chefs in the months ahead. “The dinners introduce attendees to MEarth to learn about all of our hands-on programs that teach youth about sustainability, environmental stewardship and healthy, seasonal food choices,” explains Lewis.

On Thursday, March 21, MEarth will welcome Executive Chef Matt Beaudin from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. And of course April brings MEarth Day—a daylong family celebration featuring eco-exhibitors, demonstrations, a plant sale, live music, small bites from local chefs, a silent auction and more activities on Saturday, April 27, from 10am-4pm. For more information on upcoming MEarth events, visit mearthcarmel.org.