Manresa Celebrates 10th Anniversary

To celebrate ’s 10th anniversary, will host a nightly series, Cooking with Friends, July 11-15 at the popular restaurant, 320 Village Lane, in Los Gatos.

The restaurant has been awarded two Michelin stars for five consecutive years and most recently was named one of Restaurant magazine’s . Kinch received the Best Chefs in America award for the Pacific region from the James Beard Foundation in 2010.

On the first three nights, chefs Michael Cimarusti of Providence in Los Angeles, John and Karen Shields, who are opening a restaurant in Philadelphia later this year and Carlo Mirarchi of Roberta’s in Brooklyn, NY, will each collaborate on separate tasting menus with Kinch, available for one-night-only.

For the final two nights, Kinch will welcome some of Manresa’s most notable alumni—Belinda Leong, John Paul Carmona, Charlie Parker, James Syhabout, Jeremy Fox, Michael Gaines, and Marty Cattaneo—to each prepare a course for the weekend-tasting menu.

“This is a huge milestone not only for me but also for the entire team at Manresa,” said Kinch in a written press release. “I thought the best way to celebrate would be to offer a few one-of-a-kind menus in collaboration with my friends. But I’m most excited about the weekend dinners. I’ve invited some of our former chefs back into the kitchen. It’s fun to be working with them again and to see the ideas they have for the menu.”

Manresa’s Cooking with Friends dinner series will include:

July 11: Michael Cimarusti of Providence

At Providence, Chef and co-owner Cimarusti is known for creating menus that are “inspired by the natural abundance of coastal living.” To highlight this, he and Kinch will collaborate on a multi-course menu themed “Sea.”

Cimarusti's has held several cooking positions in New York, Paris, and LA, at restaurants including Larry Forgione’s An American Place, Le Cirque, Arpege, La Maree, Echiverri at Fauchon, Spago, and the executive chef position at The Water Grill.

July 12: John and Karen Shields

Husband-and-wife duo John and Karen Shields will create a multi-course menu with Kinch following the theme of “Fruits and Vegetables.” The couple met while working at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago. John moved on to the sous-chef position at Alinea. The pair then gained acclaim for their 28-seat restaurant Town House in remote Chilhowie, VA. In 2010, John was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs. They recently announced plans for a new restaurant opening later this year in Philadelphia. This dinner at Manresa will give diners a chance to experience dishes that might appear on the new restaurant menu.

July 13: Carlo Mirarchi of Roberta’s

Friend and colleague Chef Carlo Mirarchi of Roberta’s in Brooklyn, NY will create a multi-course menu with Kinch following the theme of “Pasture, Meat, and Forest.” Mirarchi opened Roberta’s in January 2008 as chef and partner. In 2011, he was named one of Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs and received reviews from the New York Times for his “marvelous” pizzas and reservation-only tasting menus, and from Bloomberg magazine for serving some of “New York’s most deeply satisfying Italian-American” cuisine. His courses for the anniversary dinner at Manresa are representative of the more refined tasting menu offered at Roberta’s.

July 14-15: Manresa Alumni

Each of Manresa’s featured alumni chefs will contribute a dish for the multi-course tasting menu served on Saturday and Sunday. Former Pastry Chef Belinda Leong (soon opening the much anticipated B Pâtisserie), former Chef de Cuisine and Pastry Chef John Paul Carmona (Partner at 3 Mile Group), former Chef de Cuisines Jeremy Fox (chef at Paper or Plastik in Los Angeles) and James Syhabout (chef/owner of Commis in Oakland), and former Sous Chefs Charlie Parker (executive chef at Freddie Smalls in Los Angeles), Michael Gaines (chef de cuisine at Central Kitchen in San Francisco), and Marty Cattaneo (executive chef of Dio Deka in Los Gatos).

The “Cooking with Friends” dinners are $175. The Manresa alumni dinners on July 14-15 are $198. Prices are per person not including tax, tip, or wine pairings. To make reservations, call Manresa at 408-354-4330.

For more information please visit the restaurant's website, or www.facebook.com/manresarestaurant. To make reservations, please call Manresa at 408.354.4330.