Top Chef Ilan Hall To Host Demonstration Dinner, March 7

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 24, 2010

Top Chef Winner Ilan Hall will bring his culinary expertise to The Collins College of Hospitality Management’s Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch at Cal Poly Pomona for a cooking demonstration followed by a three-course dinner on Sunday, March 7 at 6 p.m. Advance tickets are $40 per guest and $50 at the door.

Proceeds from the demonstration dinner will support The Collins College of Hospitality Management and the United Culinarians, a student club designed to give students an opportunity to develop their culinary knowledge and skills outside of the classroom.

Hall is chef and owner of The Gorbals in Los Angeles. He rose to culinary fame at the age of 24 when he won season two of Bravo TV’s Top Chef in 2007. The Gorbals is named after a richly diverse immigrant community in Glasgow, Scotland and is homage to Hall’s Scottish/Russian-Jewish heritage.

“Chef Ilan is doing daring work at The Gorbals. He is blending Scottish, Jewish, American and Spanish cuisine to create amazing new flavors,” said student Ray Bishop, president of the United Culinarians. “We are fortunate to have him come to campus and support the United Culinarians.”

Members of United Culinarians will assist Hall throughout the event. This will not be the first time students have worked under Hall’s auspice. Elizabeth “Lizi” Freeman, a hospitality management student, is externing at The Gorbals. Additionally Bishop, Max Walder and Courtney Sawasaki have volunteered to work in the kitchen on a few occasions for professional experience.

Seating is limited to 75 people, so reservations are highly recommended. RSVP by e-mailing the United Culinarians at unitedculinarians@gmail.com. Tickets may be purchased by cash or check only.

For media inquiries, contact Lisa McPheron, director of communications & external relations for The Collins College, at (310) 968-7695 or lcmcpheron@cpp.edu.

About The Collins College - Founded in 1973, The Collins College of Hospitality Management is the first and largest four-year hospitality management degree program in California and the only hospitality management college on the West Coast. Approximately 1,000 undergraduate students receive a superior education in the state-of-the-art Collins College facilities, where they learn to apply hospitality management theories and concepts to real-world settings. Part of this unique academic experience includes managing and operating the full-service Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch.