Sardine Factory marks 30 years with scholarship pledge

Nation's Restaurant News, Nov 16, 1998

MONTEREY, Calif. - To mark the 30th anniversary of their acclaimed Sardine Factory Restaurant here, Ted J. Balestreri and Bert P. Cutino pledged to award a minimum of $30,000 in culinary scholarships during the current school year.

The restaurateurs' pledge, and an acknowledgment of their generosity by Steven Caldeira, president of the Educational Foundation of the National Restaurant Association, came during a gala dinner at the restaurant, considered by many to be the "flagship" of Cannery Row. Attending the event were family, friends, foodservice-industry representatives and the media.

Built by Balestreri and Cutino in 1968, the Sardine Factory originally featured 72 seats and an annual gross of $380,000. Today the fine-dining restaurant boasts 250 seats and substantially higher sales. Both men credit the contributions of their wives - Velma Balestreri and Bella Cutino - with helping to make the restaurant a success.

On hand at the Oct. 2 dinner were Dan Albert, mayor of Monterey, who read a proclamation of congratulations; Eric Ruff, National Restaurant Association senior vice president of communications and technology; and James C. Doherty, executive vice president of Lebhar-Friedman Inc., parent of Nation's Restaurant News.

Addressing dinner guests, Doherty noted that Balestreri and Cutino have made significant contributions to foodservice and, through the Sardine Factory, helped build Monterey's international reputation for fine dining. Among their accomplishments: Balestreri is a past president of the National Restaurant Association and a past chairman of Distinguished Restaurants of North America, or DiRoNa, and Cutino is a past chairman of the American Academy of Chefs, the honors society of the 25,000-member American Culinary Federation and a former DiRoNa chairman.

David Dibley and Theresa McKinney of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco were the first students to benefit from the latest endowment to the Ted. J. Balestreri and Bert P. Cutino Scholarship Fund, which is administered by the Educational Foundation. The students were on hand for the anniversary dinner, where they met and thanked their benefactors.

The menu for the celebration featured Asian-seared foie gras on red-bliss potatoes with apple fritters; sea scallops and Monterey prawns in lobster-leek soup; roast tenderloin of veal on spinach with promenade potato and sauteed chanterelles with Merlot sauce; carpaccio of artichoke crowns with a variety of greens and black-truffle dressing; pear Helene with raspberry and mango sauce; and petit fours and coffee. Several premium wines from the Sardine Factory's renowned wine cellar were poured by cellarmaster Andrea Fulton.