Chef Bernard heats things up at Casablanca
April 8, 2007 - La Jolla Village News "Lifestyles"
by Diana Cavagnaro

Bernard Guillas, executive chef for the Marine Room at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, was on hand at the Casablanca Lounge Feb. 17 for a celebrity chef cook-off. Guillas, the defending titleholder, competed against Jeffrey Strauss, the executive chef and owner of the Pamplemousse Grill.

The chefs delighted the guests with their culinary expertise and their flair for entertaining presentation. Chef Bernard prepared a scrumptious diver scallop and Chef Jeffrey made delicious lobster ravioli. The pumped-up audience went back and forth sampling the gourmet cuisine as they decided how they should vote. Most of the attendees thought it was a toss-up, but in the end the winner with the most votes was Strauss.

The evening celebrated the launch of www.casablancasalonspa.com. The salon now has a Web site to provide information on its products and services, which include an expanded online boutique. Proceeds from the event benefited the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation at Rady’s Children’s Hospital San Diego. All the net proceeds from the silent and live auction went to the PC Pals program, which provides laptops for pediatric patients. The silent auction, the live auction and the wine raffle had an array of fantastic items. The audience was bustling around bidding on everything.

Celebrity photographer Alexander Spear was on hand to take portraits for a donation to the PC Pals program. Lisa Stewart, designer of fine jewelry, traveled from Beverly Hills to give the guests an opportunity to purchase her elegant creations. Steward has designed for many of Hollywood’s “A-List” celebrities and is currently featured in Victoria Secret’s Catalog. A fashion show featuring lingerie and loungewear by Los Angeles designer Wendy Glez rounded off the evening. The models came down the runway in the latest lingerie and thrilled the audience with hot new styles.

Casablanca Salon & Spa is a full-service salon for both men and women that also offers a retail boutique with gifts and accessories. The spa hosted this wonderful event for the PC Pals program. Guests were given the opportunity to log on to the new Web site and purchase items during the event. This evening, 20 percent of net online purchases also went to the PC Pals Program.

For information on Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation, visit: www.starlight.org.