Manresa Restaurant Hosts Guest Chef Dinner With Australia's Royal Mail Hotel Chef Dan Hunter, September 10-11, 2011

The award-winning Manresa restaurant welcomes Chef Dan Hunter from the Royal Mail Hotel in Western Victoria, Australia for its annual "Cooking with Friends" series. On September 10 and September 11, 2011, Manresa Chef David Kinch and Royal Mail Hotel Chef Dan Hunter will collaborate on a ten-course menu with wine and cocktail pairings. This is the first "Cooking with Friends" dinner at Manresa since the restaurant completed extensive renovations in May.

Manresa's ongoing "Cooking with Friends" series invites peers in the culinary world to join Chef Kinch for a distinctive dining experience. Guest chefs from top restaurants around the world have graced Manresa's two Michelin star kitchen and include Alain Passard of L'Arpege in Paris; Mauro Colagreco of Mirazur in Menton, France; Rene Redzepi of Noma in Copenhagen; and Alexandre Gauthier of La Grenouillere in Montreuil-sur-Mer, France. Chef Dan Hunter is the first of two well-regarded Australian chefs that will be collaborating with Chef David Kinch at Manresa in the next year.

"We are honored to have Dan Hunter representing the Royal Mail Hotel and the Victoria region of Australia," says Chef Kinch. "We have a lot of similarities from our approach to food to our unique relationships with farms. I'm very excited to finally work with him in the kitchen to craft an unforgettable dining experience."

Chef Dan Hunter started his career in Melbourne working in a number of culinary roles, learning the importance of produce and their seasons as well as exploring the creative side of menu conception. In 2003, Hunter became interested in what was happening in food in Spain and moved to Barcelona to work at the Michelin-starred Caelis restaurant to explore the style and quality of cuisine coming out of the region. While in Barcelona, he was introduced to Chef Andoni Luis Aduriz at Mugaritz, a two Michelin-starred restaurant located in the Basque Country. He arranged a three-month period of work experience at Mugaritz which later turned into roles as Chef de Partie, Sous Chef and Head Chef. In the time Hunter was at Mugaritz, the restaurant was named tenth best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine UK and has been featured as a top five best restaurant in the world since 2008.

In 2007, Hunter returned to Australia and moved to Dunkeld, Western Victoria to take up the position of Executive Chef at the Royal Mail Hotel. This move has allowed him access to his own kitchen gardens, fruit orchards, egg laying hens, and a green house for herb production. He works closely with his kitchen and garden team to produce a unique style of food that blends his understanding of modern technique with an immense respect for nature, produce, and seasonality.

"David Kinch and his team have a very similar outlook on the restaurant experience as we do here at the Royal Mail Hotel in Victoria-and for the pursuit of exceptional ingredients," says Hunter. "This collaboration is a big deal for us and one we are very excited about."

The "Cooking with Friends" dinner featuring Chef Dan Hunter of the Royal Mail Hotel will feature 10-courses for $195 per person, exclusive of wine pairing, tax, and gratuity. Wine & Beverage Director Jeff Bareilles will offer two different pairings for the evening, featuring a selection of Australian wines. Classic wine pairings are $95 per person or you can choose premium wine pairings for $195 per person.

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


About Manresa:
Located in the village of Los Gatos at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco, Manresa is the showcase for the cuisine of renowned Chef and Proprietor David Kinch. Influenced by French and modern Catalan cooking, Kinch fin