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NOSTALGIA AND NOW… Today I am a butterfly (no wisecracks). Today I flutter around in my little butterfly home, preening my beautiful butterfly wings, polishing my cute little butterfly shoes, freshening my delicate butterfly senses. Tonight I am unleashed upon the most magnificent field of flowers where I dance from petal to petal immersing myself in the nectar, morphing into flower itself, becoming the essence of the one and only Masters of Food & Wine opening night.

I breathe in my deepest, most life-enriching breaths, each scented by a thousand glorious aromas. My eyes focus like the Hubble Telescope upon every immaculate particle of perfect culinary and oenological expression. My finely honed instincts terrestrially guide me from morsel of this, to sip of that…I give myself completely to the infinite wisdom of the collective assembly. I am free.

Every once in a while, I’ll hike back into the forest of former Food Chains, just to see what happened to be happening at the time. The above was from the opening night of MASTERS OF FOOD & WINE a few years back. Since I was the one who wrote it the first time, I thought it just, even honorable, to bring it out of mothballs, dust it off and wear it to the party…especially since this is the swan song for our beloved local Food-and-Wine All-Star Weekend. Don’t know if there are any available unsold tickets to any of the individual events this year, but you should be trying to get there.

MUSHROOMING EVENT… Oddly enough I noticed in my file Food Chain Number 1. Naturally, I was curious—could I actually pull my first Chain? There it was, Sept. 13, 2001. The first thing I reported on was Big Sur Bakery, a new spot making the best breads, baked goods and serving great lunches and dinners. Thankfully, they’re still going strong. This weekend, they’ll be the driving force behind the First Annual BIG SUR CHANTERELLE COOK-OFF.

It’s a weekend-long affair celebrating the joys of Big Sur via those beautiful fungi, the Chanterelles (I remember their hit song “Dark Places” from the ‘60s). This is going to be a bunch of fun, Big Sur style, with all the restaurants participating, local talent, wines, auctions, the works, all to support the Workforce Housing Task Force, a group whose goal is to bring affordable housing for all the folks that work in Big Sur.

Saturday is the actual Cook-Off, when local chefs as well as civilians will be vying for the title of Chanterelle Czar of Big Sur…I’m one of the judges, along with a group of folks who actually know something—I’m there to provide comic relief. Anyway, call 667-0520.

GRAPE PIONEERS… Went to a pretty cool gathering last week at the Naval Postgraduate School. The Monterey County Business Council honored Monterey County’s Wine Industry Pioneers, Paul Masson, Mirassou, Wente, Chalone, Durney (now Heller Estate), Almaden, McFarland Management, Monterey Farming Corp. (now Scheid Vineyards), Prudential Insurance Co. & Southdown Land Co. (now San Bernabe Vineyards), and Ventana Vineyards.

As we enjoy the current crop of some 50-plus wineries from around these parts, we owe a debt to these folks who saw the potential of the region, then built the foundation upon which our present success is sitting. MARY ANN LEFFEL, president of the Business Council, did a great job organizing this black tie gala where, needless to say, prodigious amounts of wine and food were enjoyed, along with equally intoxicating conversation—and surprise, surprise, DAVID BERNAHL of Pacific Tweed was there too.

PARTY PARTY… Sunday, Feb. 25, sees the annual MCAP (Monterey County AIDS Project) Academy Awards Party With OSCAR event at Embassy Suites. This is so much fun each year, with giant multi-screen viewing of the Academy Awards, food and wine and the important auction to help raise funds. Call right away—it’s this weekend y’all—so you can get yourself in there, 394-4747, extension 22.

The Lodge at Pebble Beach is putting together a spectacular evening with the Director of Salon Champagne DIDIER DEPOND. He will lead guests through the Champagnes of Salon and Delamotte, each paired with an exquisite dish created by Club XIX’s Chef de Cuisine, RESSUL RASSALLAT. Seating will be limited to 20 people, so get on the horn right away to JOHN “HEISMAN TROPHY” WINFIELD, 625-8531.

GOOD BETTER BEST… For those of you who have enjoyed the homemade cakes at Rosine’s in downtown Monterey over the years, you can now send them to your friends and relatives across the country. The good folks at owner JIM CULCASI’s local favorite, who can be reached at 375-1400, will send their mouthwatering goodies anywhere you’d like. Stop by, have a meal, send some cake…you’ll like yourself better.

The more I run across ANTHONY VITACCA, bartender at Montrio, bar consultant at Willy’s Smokehouse, the more I admire his prodigious talent, warm heart, good looks, and overall countenance (see Martha, I told you this Ray guy was a homo). Well, don’t take my word for it, take the words of BARBARA and ROBERT WILLIAMS, from San Carlos, Calif.: “Anthony Vitacca owns the bar at Willy’s. Check it out for the atmosphere and smokin’ cocktails!”

RICH PEPE has unloaded his March schedule for the popular Pepe Talk series at the Salud Room in Monterey’s Whole Foods, get it at pepeinternational.com…next time you see me, I might be looking good. Alright, impossible you say, but I say possible. I’m going to Sultry One Studios in Marina (sultryonestudios.com) and letting LUANNE HUTCHINGS turn me from a frog into a a better looking frog. You can too. Call her and find out how, 884-9672…to the Masters of Food & Wine, thanks for the memories.