The 37th Annual Fall Food + Wine Festival

One of the most popular social events of the year took place on a balmy Sundy night, October 29^th, at the Parkway Grill adjacent to the legendary Arroyo Chop House owned by hosts Gregg and Bob Smith.

The annual Fall Food + Wine event supports the Nan and Howard Schow emergency and trauma center at Huntington Hospital (Huntington Health is an affiliate of Cedars Sinai), which provides lifesaving care for family, friends, and neighbors of the Pasadena community with live music, good eats and delicious wines and spirits.

In its 37th year (it would be the 39th but they lost 2 years during the Pandemic), this festive event has helped to raise close to 8 million dollars over the years to support lifesaving trauma care for the most severely injured patients. 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the hospital provides state-of-the-art equipment and advanced training that will prevent delays in critical moments when every second counts.

This year, close to 1,400 people including a committee of volunteers, along with 30 restaurants and 40 wineries who generously donated, kicked off the night with a VIP hour at the Pinot Noir level for sponsors, followed by a general admission opening. The event evokes a vibrant party friendly atmosphere without a sit-down dinner or long speeches to endure, just merriment and dancing to the Soulville band who plays feel-good covers from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s through contemporary music.

“This is such a fun night and we really look forward to it,” Greg Smith told Pasadena Magazine. “I pick the band, restaurants, and wineries.” From the start, Smith has always wanted to be a part of the community since opening Arroyo Chop house 40 years ago. So, he went looking for a charity and wanted to support the Huntington hospital. To that end, all the proceeds from the event go to the trauma center. “At the time trauma centers were not very profitable and some were closing down,” Smith recalls. Some of the restaurateurs’ other stipulations included no live or silent auction and no raffle. “This is not a money grab. You pay your price and come to have a ball; it is just a fun evening with no pressure,” he said.

The space is decorated each year by Town and Country who transformed the parking lot that straddles the land and chef’s garden between two of Pasadena’s most beloved restaurants - Arroyo Chophouse and Parkway Grill - with sparkly chandeliers and red carpets. Crowds mingled between the two establishments bars which were both open, along with private tables that can be booked during the event with local food and wine enthusiasts and patrons including hospital medical staff and doctors – one dressed in a festive black suit adorned with pumpkins.

Co-Chair Karen Billman who is responsible for wrangling all the great restaurants told Pasadena Magazine, “This is our only hospital in Pasadena and they forage a lot of great relationships with the community and I love to be involved with it. These restaurants love Pasadena. Places like Gale’s restaurant. I can call her and ask for help and she says ‘where can I sign up.’ There is such a generosity with these restaurants.”

“I was pleasantly surprised when we sold out again this year,” said co-chair Carter Donaldson. “We love it – it’s a party!” Jamie Brady-Smith, manager of donor relations and special events at the hospital, confirmed they will raise about $250,000 between the tickets, donations, and 50 patron tables ranging from private cabanas to waiter service.

Some of the bevy of local restaurants included The Royce wood-fired steakhouse from the Langham Huntington hotel serving grilled prime New York with bone marrow, to the historic Tam O’Shanter with Scottish nachos in the form of corned-beef and melted Scotch rarebit on kettle-cooked potato chips that were sinfully delicious.

Arroyo Chophouse handed out prime filet on garlic mashed potatoes with a blue cheese cabernet reduction, while Parkway Grill showcased its lobster corndog and short rib, and Smitty’s Grill offered crab cakes with mac-n-cheese.

Old-time favorites from Mijares Mexican restaurant to Twohey’s and the Raymond 1886 all turned out to serve signature dishes and drinks to the crowd. For sweets, the Lark cake shop had cupcakes while Mi Piace served a bruleed cheesecake that was torched on site.

Over 40 wineries were pouring from Chalk Hill in Sonoma County to Daou Vineyards in Paso Robles, Duckhorn in Napa Valley, and Moraga Vineyards from Los Angeles. There was also beer on tap and Four Roses single barrel bourbon among other spirits.

Chef and co-owner Bret Thompson of Pez Cantina has a personal reason for joining the event, along with his partner and wife Lucy, who were serving barbequed octopus, beyond opening a new seafood and prime meat restaurant in the old Slater 50/50 space this December. “My Mom actually beat cancer at the hospital, and I have been going there for 15 years and know a lot of the doctors.”

Chef-owner Calogero Drago of the Celestino family legacy commented while dishing out a layered pasta with meat sauce and eggplant, along pumpkin risotto, “We have been doing this event for the last 30 years because Huntington it’s the best hospital.” Smith concluded, “You never know when someone in your family is going to get sick or have an accident and Huntington Hospital is always there. It is such a great community, but it has turned into a great dining city, we are proud to be a part of it, plus we love giving back.”