Puerto Vallarta Chefs Pay Tribute to San Pascual Bailón

On Saturday May 31st, Puerto Vallarta’s culinary professionals will erect a monument to San Pascual Bailón on the new section of the Malecón near Vitea Ocean Front Bistro.

Puerto Vallarta’s culinary professionals will erect a monument to San Pascual Bailón, the patron saint of cooks in Mexico, on Saturday May 31, 2008 at 7 pm.

This majestic work of art was created by renowned Mexican sculptor Ramiz Barquet, whose numerous works embellish the surroundings of Puerto Vallarta’s historic quarters.

The inauguration of this monument will be followed by a fundraising dinner at Vitea Oceanfront Bistro organized by four restaurants – Trio, River Café, Los Xitomates, and Café des Artistes – with proceeds going towards the payment of this sculpture.

The monument will occupy the esplanade of famous national chefs, and plaques with the names of acclaimed chefs will be placed around it. Award winners will be selected by a special committee led by Mr. Ulrich Schwartz, one of the monument’s sponsors, and a select group of well known Mexican culinary celebrities.

This award will be presented during the annual International Gourmet Festival as one of the highlights of the world renowned culinary extravaganza.

This monument will offer greater relevance to the great symbol of Mexico’s culinary heritage in order to “celebrate it with the effusiveness that it deserves.”

Municipal authorities, as well as authorities from Jalisco state and the federal government, National and local media will also be in attendance at the inaguration ceremony highlighting the importance of this event.

Puerto Vallarta owes much of its great success to the high quality and variety of its gastronomy, which constitutes one of the destination’s fundamental pillars and sets it apart from competing destinations.

Fine gastronomy has also earned Puerto Vallarta the title of “Mexico’s Culinary Capital” after Mexico City, whose massive proportions can’t be compared with our destination. It is worth mentioning however, that even in Latin America’s great metropolis the gastronomy of this charming Jalisco town is well known.

The First Puerto Vallarta Contemporary Art Festival, Arte Contemporáneao, will begin this coming Wednesday, May 28th and run through Sunday, June 1st.

We need volunteers for a variety of jobs: handing out programs, making sure people don’t bring food and drinks into the galleries, assisting with seating and other logistics at the panel discussions, hanging posters, etc.

If you’d like to be involved, please contact Valeria Moeller via email: valeriamoeller at gmail dot com.

For more info on the festival, please visit the website at: http://www.pvartecontemporaneo.com/