SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif., April 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunset magazine (www.sunset.com) is thrilled to announce Cat Cora as the featured chef at the Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast 2011 celebration of food, wine, and fine living.  Ms. Cora will present a seminar on cooking with local, seasonal ingredients during the Main Event at the Santa Margarita Ranch and will be in attendance at the Paso Glow on October 1, 2011.

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First schedule and venue details were also announced today, including an exclusive reception at the Central Coast's crown jewel, Hearst Castle. Additionally, the classic California vibe of the Pismo Beach Pier will serve as the backdrop to the Sunset 2011 Western Wine Awards Gala.

Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast will take place throughout San Luis Obispo County from September 29 through October 2, 2011. Over 7,000 visitors are expected to attend this year's event and enjoy the beauty, bounty, and flavor of this largely unspoiled region.

Cat Cora, the featured celebrity chef for Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast 2011, is arguably America's most famous female chef. Ms. Cora is most widely known as a regular on Iron Chef America, though she has long been a popular television personality, appearing on NBC, The Food Network and PBS. Outside the kitchen, Ms. Cora is the President and Founder of Chefs for Humanity, a not-for-profit organization comprised of culinary professionals working to fight hunger by providing food nutrition, education, emergency food relief and humanitarian aid worldwide.  Recognizing Cat's altruistic determination in the food world, UNICEF named her a nutritional spokesperson to help raise awareness for humanitarian crises around the world.

Available information on the Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast 2011 schedule is as follows:

• Thursday, September 29: The four-day event kicks off in grand style with an opening soiree at Hearst Castle in San Simeon.  A perfect blend of vintage grandeur and artful opulence, Hearst Castle will provide the elegant setting for an evening of artisan cocktails and prestigious small-lot wines from some of the producers who have put the Central Coast on the map.  From the castle's stunning perch overlooking the Pacific Ocean, this will be a rare opportunity to relive the epic days of William Randolph Hearst, Charlie Chaplin and Marion Davies.
• Friday, September 30: A day for agricultural and culinary exploration: Take tours across the Central Coast's wildly diverse landscapes to witness abalone and oyster farming, winegrape harvesting, goat cheese-making, olive harvesting and pressing, and more. At sunset, enjoy the Sunset 2011 Western Wine Awards Gala on the Pismo Beach Pier.
  • Sunset 2011 Western Wine Awards Gala, one of the weekend's most important events, will be held on the Pismo Beach Pier to honor the West's best vintners.  Join Sunset editor-in-chief Katie Tamony, wine editor Sara Schneider, and Sunset's panel of professional judges including Western wine writers, sommeliers, and wine makers, as these prestigious awards are unveiled.
• Saturday, October 1: The highly-anticipated Main Event at the Santa Margarita Ranch, where visitors can taste wine from over 200 Central Coast producers, indulge in delicious dishes prepared by over 30 chefs using local ingredients, walk the specially-planted 2-acre kitchen garden, sit in on seminars conducted by Sunset's expert editors, and wander the 20,000 square-foot pavilion celebrating all things Central Coast.  Other highlights on October 1 include:
  • Featured celebrity chef, Cat Cora, will present a seminar on cooking with local, seasonal ingredients.  
  • "SAVOR the Mission Plaza," an al fresco dining experience in the heart of one of California's most vibrantly alive cities, features the talents of San Luis Obispo County's best chefs and the flavors of its award-winning wines.
  • The "Paso Glow" event takes advantage of Paso Robles' warm fall evenings in City Park, which will be transformed into the site of a magical, illuminated reverie as gifted local chefs join Cat Cora to create a memorable culinary evening, and winemakers and farmers celebrate the delicious abundance of the Central Coast beneath the moon.
• Sunday, October 2: The Main Event in Santa Margarita continues, followed that evening by a magnificent Grand Finale, details for which will be released in the coming weeks.

Tickets for the Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast 2011 event will go on sale May 5, 2011.  For more information, please visit www.SavorCentralCoast.com.

Sunset magazine has partnered with the San Luis Obispo County Visitors & Conference Bureau to launch Sunset SAVOR the Central Coast. For more event information and ticketing, visit www.savorcentralcoast.com, or call 800-768-6653.  Become a fan on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/SavorCC, or follow us on Twitter (@SavorCC).  Ticket proceeds and sponsorships are considered donations to the San Luis Obispo County Visitors & Convention Bureau, a 501 c 6 non-profit tourism organization promoting San Luis Obispo County.

About Sunset magazine

Sunset magazine is the premier guide to life in the West, covering the newest and best ideas in Western home design and landscaping, food and entertaining, and regional travel in 13 Western states. Sunset and www.sunset.com are part of the lifestyle group of magazines and websites published by the Time Inc. Lifestyle Group.

About Cat Cora

In 2005, Chef Cat Cora made television history by becoming the first and only female Iron Chef on Food Network's Iron Chef America. The mother of four boys has authored three top-selling cookbooks, opened three restaurants in partnerships with Macy's (CCQ), Walt Disney World Boardwalk Resort (Kouzzina by Cat Cora), and her newest venture, Cat Cora, which opens in the Virgin Terminal at San Francisco International in April 2011 as well as launched her own collection of wines, entitled Coranation. In January 2011, Cora launched her first line of cookware with Starfrit, Canada's leading purveyor of eco-friendly cookware and kitchen gadgets, and introduced her Cat Cora's Kitchen line of olive oils, vinegar, cooking sauces and tapenades by Gaea, the leader in Greek specialty food products. Cora will release her first children's book, Suitcase Surprise for Mommy (Dial Books, 2011) a sweet and comforting tool for kids and parents to use when Mom or Dad have to travel, in March 2011.  Cora is the co-host for Disney's "Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora" and "Hasty Tasty" web series. She is currently shooting a pilot for the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) where she travels around the country helping families in need of a healthy lifestyle change.   In 2004, Cora, an avid philanthropist and UNICEF spokesperson, founded Chefs For Humanity in response to the tsunami disaster in Indonesia.   This not for profit organization has partnered with Share Our Strength as well as the World Food Programme to provide nutrition education and hunger relief worldwide. For more information please visit, www.catcora.com  and follow Cat on Twitter (@catcora) and Facebook.

About the San Luis Obispo Visitors & Conference Bureau

The San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau promotes San Luis Obispo County through advertising, marketing, public relations and group sales.  Its member base is comprised of over 500 tourism industry-related businesses including lodging properties, restaurants, wineries, golf courses and retail stores.  For more information on the VCB, please visit www.SanLuisObispoCounty.com or contact Molly Morrison Cano at 805.781.2531 or mollym@sanluisobispocounty.com.  

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