RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

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Honoree Herb Nadel and host Barbara Lazeroff chow down with Michael and Alana Jackson at Cal Spirit.

They were grazing on the green at the posh Ken Roberts estate as food fans gathered for the annual California Spirit gourmet gala. More than 800 guests made the rounds sampling fine fare from some the best eateries in LA. Unlike a lot of food flings, Cal Spirit features big names behind the scenes. Josiah Citrin of Melisse was busy whipping up a fiery prime rib feast accompanied with fresh summer veggies. “Feel the heat from the hottest restaurant in the city,” he beckoned tongs in one hand, Cosmo in the other. “It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Spago’s chocolate queen Sherry Yard was banging out boysenberry soufflé with lemon gelato topped by crème fresh and juicy strawberries. “I am guilty of all things sweet,” she says with a sly smile. In between her non-stop dessert duties at all those posh VIP parities, Sherry has managed to ink a book about her humble beginnings. “It begins at a vocational school in Brooklyn,” she boasts, “and ends at the Academy Awards.”

Co-host Wolfgang Puck, busy making the rounds in his signature chef’s coat and clogs doesn’t seem to be shedding any tears over the closure of his Malibu outpost Granita. “We have lots of great memories,” the celeb chef told The Malibu Times. “We are not sad because we always look forward not back.” The Wolfman was quick to promote his upcoming cooking endeavors in Beverly Hills and Atlantic City adding, “no one’s going to stay unemployed for long.”

Each food station was decked out in décor as well as incredible eats. Verte was very Nantucket covered in colorful seashells, sand dollars and fishermen’s nets. In keeping with the theme, there were buckets brimming with fresh shellfish and ears of grilled white corn with lobster butter. To top it all off, there were waffle sandwiches as big as a Buick filled with cherry ice cream as well as massive clam shells filled with gooey salt water taffy.

The day of eating to excess is all for a good cause of course. Entertainment exec Sherry Lansing, chef Puck and Barbara Lazeroff have been putting on the American Cancer Society fundraiser for more than two decades. “This has become a real community event,” Lansing said with pride. “Twenty-one years ago there were 100 of us and now there are almost a thousand.” Lansing called the fete a celebration of touching personal stories and progress. “I remember when one of my best friends was told she had three months to live,” Lansing recalled, “that was 30 years ago.”

The graze-a-thon raised almost a million bucks for the ACS, its programs, outreach and the search for a cure.