Two top chefs team up for San Francisco Bocuse d'Or extravaganza

Think if U2 and Coldplay teamed up for one night -- and one night only -- for a special benefit concert.

This is the culinary equivalent with celebrated Bay Area rock-star chefs Daniel Patterson of Coi in San Francisco and David Kinch of Manresa joining together for one night, Feb. 8, to cook a sumptuous seven-course feast to benefit the Bocuse d'Or USA Foundation.

At this unique event, which will take place at Coi, Patterson and Kinch will alternate cooking savory courses, and Coi's Pastry Chef Bill Corbett will do the honors with dessert. Look for such wondrous treats for the eye and palate as Patterson's "Winter Pastoral'' (young carrots roasted on a bed of hay, radish powder, and shaved Pecorino); and Kinch's "Crispy Chicken and Egg Confit'' (with roasted chicken "dashi" and black truffles).

Poultry from Vacaville's Soul Food Farm will be highlighted in the dinner to celebrate the legacy of American heritage breed poultry.

Price is $195 per person, with a wine pairing available at an extra charge. For reservations, call (415) 393-9000.

For 20 years, the United States has fielded a team for the Bocuse d'Or, the prestigious Olympics of cooking. But it wasn't until recently that the country got serious about it, when superstar chefs Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller formed the US foundation to support and train the candidate who would represent this country.

Boulud and Keller recently asked Patterson to be a judge on the foundation's culinary council to help choose the next U.S. representative for the 2011 Bocuse d'Or in Lyon, France. (As if he would say "no'' when those two came calling?)

All culinary council chefs will be hosting similar fund-raiser dinners. When Patterson started planning his event, he decided to enlist his good friend, Kinch, to join him in the cooking. With two chefs -- who each hold two Michelin stars -- in the kitchen that night, it promises to be one rockin' evening.

With the swank Le Meridien hotel a stone's throw from Coi, it's the perfect place to stay after you've had your fill, too.

Photos courtesy of the chefs, Daniel Patterson and David Kinch.

- Carolyn Jung of Food Gal