An Evening With Diana Kennedy

Event Description

You are invited to attend an intimate four-course dinner and film fundraiser to honor the life and work of 91-year-old James Beard award-winning cookbook author and expert on Mexican cuisine Diana Kennedy. The event will be held at a private home in West Austin on Saturday, April 19th, and Diana Kennedy will join us in person. 

Guests will enjoy a four-course meal prepared by guest chefs Rene Ortiz and Laura Sawicki (formerly of La Condesa and Sway), Fany Gerson of La Newyorkina, and Jorge Hernandez of Qui. Ingredients will be donated by local purveyors, including Farm to Table, Farmhouse Delivery, Dos Lunas Cheese, Springdale Farms, and Munkebo Farms. The incredible Del Maguey will provide award-winning organic mezcal, with cocktails served by Cesar Aguilar and Scranton Twohey. Wine pairings courtesy of Republic will accompany each course of the meal. Presentations on the film and foundation will follow. Each guest will go home with a copy of one of Diana's award-winning cookbooks, Oaxaca al Gusto or My Mexico, which will be personally signed by Diana at the end of the evening. 

This event will raise funds for the production of a feature documentary on Diana to chronicle the establishment of her life’s legacy. Diana has been the central ambassador of Mexican cuisine to the rest of the world, having committed almost sixty years in the country to the research and preservation of its native ingredients and recipes. She is a steadfast advocate of the environment, constantly emphasizing the importance of sustainable practices for the benefit of future generations. Diana’s vitality is impressive, to say the least, and her passion for conservation contagious.  This year, with the help of friend and fellow chef Shaw Lash, Diana will transform her completely green eco-house in the mountains of Michoacan, Mexico into a center for research and education on food sustainability and the preservation of regional Mexican cuisines.

The film will follow Diana as she creates the research center in her home, travels to receive awards and give talks on sustainability around the world, and continues to cook with gusto. It will feature interviews from prominent chefs, writers, food historians, friends, and Mexican cooks from whom Diana sourced recipes and research over the years. At a time when a global interest in food is stronger than ever, and the shift toward sustainability is imperative, Diana’s critical perspective is impossible to ignore. The film provides a channel through which Diana’s influence can be fully realized, and the importance of her legacy understood. 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share an evening with a living legend who has greatly influenced the culinary world with her vivacious spirit and lifelong commitment to ecological sustainability. It will provide the chance for those involved to directly participate in sharing Diana’s powerful voice and social impact with audiences worldwide.