SO CAL EXPLORERS - Field trips for adults

PLEASE NOTE THE TIME 6:00PM
"You have to taste a culture to understand it."

• Deborah Cater

We’re exploring the world – and letting our taste buds be our guide. Join other culinary Explorers for this monthly dinner series that will transport you on edible adventures to various countries, locations, and cuisines. Sample an ethnic dish or new cuisine you’ve never tasted before. Experience other cultures through the international language of food. Break bread – or, in this case, pane - around our communal table as we enjoy the food of Italy.

5:45 p.m. - Meet outside Filomena's
6:00 p.m. - Dine at Filomena's

2400 Newport Blvd
Costa Mesa, CA 92627

https://www.filomenasoc.com/

Please bring cash just in case

"As a little girl, Chef Linda always knew being of Italian heritage meant something special. "We have strong family values and long standing traditions, especially when it came to cooking."

Chef Linda grew up in the suburbs of South Philadelphia, just 20 minutes south of the city. When the women in her family wanted authentic Italian products, they would go to the Italian Market in Philly. The Italian Market is not just one market, but many different open air markets offering fresh produce, herbs and spices, pastas, cheese, meats and hard to find Italian wares. The sights and smells of the Italian Market are something you never forget. Chef Linda remembers the fires burning in the large metal drums that line the streets during the winter months to keep customers warm as they searched for the perfect products to create authentic Italian meals. The Italian Market is still thriving today and is where most of the city's top restaurant chefs go early in the morning to select only the freshest products.

In Linda's family there were two very strong Italian women who were masters of their crafts. Her grandmother was a wonderful loving woman who always put her family first. She would spend hours teaching Linda how to make the perfect homemade pastas. And her daughter, Linda's Aunt Rosemary is the one in the family who even today keeps all the traditions alive. Her pasta sauce is the best Linda has ever tasted.

Chef Linda spent every Sunday with her Grandmother Filomena and Aunt Rosemary making a pot of Sunday Sauce and learning the secrets to making "homemades" or pasta. This is where the tradition and techniques of Italian cooking were passed down and what she now shares with our guests. She learned early on that food brings family together and continues to invite guests into our restaurants today to share her passion for food and who find as they leave they are now part of the family.

The traditions, flavors and techniques which Chef Linda continues to carry on today are that of her heritage and her grandmother…"Filomena.""

Don't sign up if you're not going to make it. Please come to have a good time. No flakes and no grouches, please.

The four-month series, curated by acclaimed Disney historian and Chapman Presidential Fellow Jeff Kurtti, brings together Imagineers, animators’ families, and creative executives for behind-the-scenes perspectives on Walt Disney’s enduring influence. Kurtti has authored more than 40 books on Disney history. - See note below about the lecture series.

“This series offers a unique perspective for students and aficionados of Walt Disney into the philosophies, origins, people, and history of Disney culture and innovation that remain relevant today,” says Kurtti."

Join us Friday, May 16 @ 7PM
Walt Disney and the Worlds of Nature

Documentary director Theodore Thomas, son of celebrated Disney animator Frank Thomas, will present his featurette Growing Up with Nine Old Men. Thomas will share his personal connection to Disney’s golden era of animation and reveal intimate insights into one of the studio’s most storied creative collectives.

Chapman College
Argyros Forum 202
386 N Center St
Orange, CA

Admission is Free - Arrive early, seating is first come first served
TBD - Drinks, Coffee and Dessert after the lecture.

I can only attend the last two lectures in the series. If you are interested in attending all the lectures, or hosting them for So Cal Explorers, here is the schedule:

Friday, February 21, 2025 @ 7PM
Walt Disney: The First Imagineer

Friday, March 14, 2025 @ 7PM
Walt Disney and Music: The Sherman Brothers

Friday, April 4, 2025 @ 7PM
Walt Disney and Worlds of Nature

Friday, May 16, 2025 @ 7PM
Walt Disney and "The Nine Old Men"