(Costa Mesa, CA) – For one night only on May 1, Southern California gourmands and Orange County fashionistas will have an opportunity to experience one of the most sought-after restaurant reservations in Paris when AnQi Restaurant hosts a prestigious James Beard Benefit Dinner on May 1st. Chef Daniel Rose of the celebrated Paris restaurant Spring will be flying in from Paris and collaborating with House of An’s Master Chef Helene An on the special five course tasting dinner. This is Chef Rose’s first appearance in California.

Rose’s approach to cuisine melds the tradition of classic French cuisine with a contemporary, personal approach to fresh market ingredients. His restaurant Spring has been named “One of 10 of the Best Restaurants in Paris” by the Guardian, and “The Trophy Reservation” by Forbes Magazine. Rose and Spring have been profiled in Elle, L’Express, Figaroscope, GQ, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Wall Street Journal and many others.

Celebrity chef, restaurant owner, and caterer to the stars, Helene An, is known for her innovative use of Asian herbs and spices and her blending of Vietnamese and French cuisine with Western flavors. She opened what is acknowledged as San Francisco’s first Vietnamese restaurant in 1971 and was dubbed the “Mother of Fusion Cuisine” by the San Francisco Chronicle when she opened Crustacean in 1991.

The dinner will be the first James Beard Foundation benefit dinner held in Orange County to feature a top Paris-based chef. Proceeds will benefit the James Beard Foundation and will also fund a scholarship at Art Institute of Orange County’s International Culinary School.

For more information about the dinner and reservations, please call (714) 557-5679. For updates on the May 1st Friends of James Beard benefit dinner, please visit https://www.facebook.com/anqibycrustacean.

About James Beard Foundation
Founded in 1986, the James Beard Foundation is dedicated to celebrating, nurturing, and preserving America’s diverse culinary heritage and future. A cookbook author and teacher with an encyclopedic knowledge about food, James Beard, who died in 1985, was a champion of American cuisine. He helped educate and mentor generations of professional chefs and food enthusiasts, instilling in them the value of wholesome, healthful and delicious food. Today, the Beard Foundation continues in the same spirit by administering a number of diverse programs that include educational initiatives, food industry awards, scholarships to culinary schools, publications, chef advocacy training, thought-leader convening, and by maintaining the historic James Beard House in New York City’s Greenwich Village as a “performance space” for visiting chefs. In September of 2012, the Foundation launched the Diplomatic Culinary Partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Protocol and helped create the American Chef Corps as a way to champion American chefs abroad, promote American food products and foster an interest in American culinary culture and history through international programs and initiatives. For more information, please visit www.jamesbeard.org. Find insights on food at the James Beard Foundation’s blog Delights & Prejudices. Join the James Beard Foundation on Facebook. Follow the James Beard Foundation on Twitter.

About AnQi Restaurant
AnQi is a gourmet bistro and noodle bar located at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. Founded by Elizabeth An, CEO, House of An, the name “AnQi” is derived from the family name “An,” and the different translations of “Qi,” meaning tasty in Thai, flavorful in Korean, and energy in Chinese. Ms. Elizabeth An designed the restaurant and has received many awards, lauding the creative space and respect for green principles. For more information visit www.anqibistro.com.

About House of An
Founded in 1971, House of An, a luxury hospitality group, owns and operates AnQi Gourmet Bistro & Noodle Bar at South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa; Tiato Kitchen Bar + Garden Venue in Santa Monica; Crustacean and Thanh Long Restaurants in San Francisco; and Crustacean Beverly Hills as well as and An Catering. Their five restaurants are renowned for their celebrity clientele, and their famous ‘Secret Kitchen,” and have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bon Appétit, USA Today, InStyle, Town & Country, People magazine, and many others, for their culinary innovations and unique décor. For more information visit www.houseofan.com.

About Daniel Rose
Chef Daniel Rose’s food melds the tradition of classical French cuisine with a contemporary, personal approach to fresh market ingredients. His restaurant, Spring, at which he is Chef and Owner, has been at the forefront of the Paris and international dining scene since opening his first 16-seat location in 2006. A Chicago-native, Daniel Rose landed in France to study at The American University of Paris. In an effort to improve his French, he found himself at the Institut Bocuse in Lyon, nourishing a passion for the restaurant business that would turn into a vibrant career. Rose credits his post-college work at Auberge des Abers in Brittany and Le Pre du Moulin in Serignan du Comtat, near Avignon as providing him with the culinary foundation that he often relies upon in mentoring his present day team. Rose cooked for some the world’s most esteemed Michelin three-star restaurants and chefs including Paul Bocuse in Lyon, Jean-Pierre Bruneau in Brussels and Yannick Alleno at the Le Meurice in Paris. He traces his turning point from cook to chef to a life-changing year spent in Panajachel, Guatemala in 2003 – Rose’s first experience as a Head Chef, running a kitchen and managing a team. Following that experience, Rose moved back to Paris in 2004, joining the restaurant team at the five-star Hotel Meurice. In 2006, the first iteration of Spring was born. By July 2010, Spring’s five month waiting list became the impetus for a move to a larger space near the Louvre in the lively Les Halles neighborhood. Rose’s Spring has since earned the distinction as The Guardian’s “One of 10 of the Best Restaurants in Paris,” Forbes’ “The Trophy Reservation,” and has become the Paris restaurant of choice for an international culinary elite including Gail Simmons, Alan Richman, Tim and Nina Zagat, Danny Meyer, and Alain Ducasse. Rose and Spring have been profiled in the Chicago Sun Times, ELLE, L’Express, Figaroscope, Forbes, The Guardian, GQ, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Wall Street Journal and many others. For more information, visit www.springparis.fr.

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