Arrivals Begin at Morro Bay

-Morro Bay, Calif.
-Feast Fest chefs have begun arriving in Morro Bay in preparation for tomorrow's final exhibition before Feast Fest, at Windows on the Water.

43 chefs arrived Saturday morning and afternoon through the nearby San Luis Obispo County Airport, being bussed to accommodations in Morro Bay. The tally of 43 adds on to 10 arrivals yesterday, for a total of 53 chefs out of FF's 67. More arrivals are expected later tonight and tomorrow morning. Feast Fest has many California-based chefs who have not yet arrived, apparently feeling safer at a late departure due to their proximity. One of these chefs was Co-Head Chef Jim McAllister. The Long Beach-based McAllister said he would be making the five-hour drive up early Sunday morning, not wanting to miss the Saturday night crowd at his restaurant. The exhibition Sunday is expected to begin around 5 p.m., with a small PrepFest scheduled for 3 p.m. McAllister said he would leave at 7 a.m., which should give him enough time to make it up to the Central Coast.

Another California based chef, Daniel Mettling, wasn't granting himself as much breathing room as McAllister. Mettling, based in Yosemite National Park, also about five hours away from Morro Bay, said he would drive through the night after ending evening service Saturday. Not that it's a tough drive--California State Route 41's eastern terminus is Yosemite, and its western terminus is in Morro Bay. "Just gotta get on 41 and stay there #FFWOTWExhibition," Mettling tweeted Saturday.

Of course, there are the matter of some chefs who won't make it at all. The Amsterdam-based Jawrodly Jurrjens said he wouldn't be able to make it to Morro Bay. Jurrjens said his mother was having heart surgery in nearby Utrecht on Monday morning. In addition, St. Louis-based Keith Wholehreh said he would be kept out of the WotW exhibition due to his wife giving birth on Thursday.

But the parent of another recent newborn WILL be making her way to WotW. After being unfairly lambasted by many for not showing up at Edelyn Cooking Arena in Punta Gorda, Fla. on Monday, having given birth to her third child only five days prior.

Avi said she had been medically cleared to travel to Morro Bay. She disembarked a chartered plane in San Luis Obispo around noon Saturday and was subsequently bussed to Morro Bay, about twenty miles to the northwest.

There is a wide variety of accommodations being used by chefs. Some are staying in beachside cottages in Morro Bay, others in more upscale hotels in nearby San Luis Obispo. One chef even booked a hotel in Paso Robles.

As many as eight chefs are staying at the large house of a Feast Fest benefactor, William Marbleton. Marbleton lives in Baywood-Los Osos, approximately five miles south of Morro Bay.

Feast Fest officials said tickets for Sunday's exhibition had been sold out as early as Friday night. 50 tickets were put on advance sale in June, and 136 others were put on sale Thursday.

FF Wire Service