Preserving the legacy of Bay Area Action’s environmental work from 1990–2000 and beyond.
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Laura Stec, a chef trained at the Culinary Institute of America and Vega Macrobiotic Study Center, created the Decadent Dinner Party series in 1994 as a way to educate people about the connections between food and the environment.
“One of the most positive impacts you can have on today’s society begins on your dinner plate,” she wrote in Action, vol 7, no 1 (Winter 1996).
“As a natural foods educator and cook, I teach people to eat tasty, healthy food despite living in an unhealthy, hurried society,” said Stec (Action, vol 7, no 2 [Spring 1996]). “I’m often asked, ‘How can natural food/macrobiotic cooking be decadent?’”
“It’s a shame that this country has such a limited understanding of the word ‘decadence.’ Over-consuming fried fat, processed foods, and animal products only deprives us of the simpler yet richer experiences of the real food world. True decadence involves eating the food of impassioned farmers and cooks who bestow time-honored traditions, Earth stewardship, intuition, soul, and artistic beauty onto the foods they lovingly prepare.”
Decadent Dinners became extremely popular and much-anticipated events, a way to gather and unwind amongst like-minded individuals, celebrate environmental values, and enjoy healthful gastronomical fare.
Decadent Dinners were part of EEAT (Environmental Eating Action Team).
Laura wanted the events to be fun, and her organic gourmet dinners took BAA’s fun events and parties to a new level.
Each dinner had a theme, often inspired by a cultural reference. Examples include Babette’s Green Tie Feast in 1996, referencing the 1987 Danish film “Babett’s Feast” in which French food is a central metaphor, and Una Noche con El Niño in 1998, an El Niño weather year which caused heavy rains and flooding in California.
Many Decadent Dinners were tied to other BAA events or programs, particularly Earth Day themes, which inspired such dinner titles as the Feast for the Forest in 1997 (when the Earth Day theme was Forests for the Future) and A Sense of Plates in 1998 (when the Earth Day theme was A Sense of Place).
While the main focus of any Decadent Dinner was excellent food, Laura and her volunteers made sure menus and displays at buffet tables would explain the food and beverages and their relation to the party theme (e.g. French cuisine-inspired foods at Babette’s Green Tie Feast) and their impact on the environment or one’s health.
Laura preferred to “slip in a little education on the side,” rather than browbeat her attendees at an event that was supposed to be fun. A charming and popular hostess and chef, she would make a brief speech at each dinner, highlighting the menu and theme’s relevance to an environmental issue or impact.
Most Decadent Dinners featured musical entertainment and sometimes Earth Circus performed. Musicians included Tony Kahlife and others. More details TBD.
In organizing the events, Laura called on her knowledge of sustainable brands, whole foods, and even local food producers to donate food, ingredients, wine, and beer. Details TBD. Sponsors were acknowledged and thanked in advertising and marketing, plus with signage at the events, and during Laura’s speech.
As with any BAA event volunteers helped make it happen, both on the day and in advance. On event days, volunteers helped as cooking assistants, servers, and parking attendants, and depending on the size and type of event, venue, etc. Volunteers also ate for free.
Decadent Dinners required reservations and cost varied depending on the elaborateness of the event. Prices were always offered on a sliding scale, and ranged from $12–20 to $25–100.
The dinners were fundraisers for BAA, with proceeds after production costs helping to pay Stec’s salary as BAA’s Special Projects Coordinator. (In time, we’ll be posting a separate article about how BAA’s finances worked.)
Decadent Dinners were featured in the press numerous times over the years, and Laura proved adept at getting a few key Bay Area journalists to attend regularly, helping promote the connections between food and environment, and BAA more broadly.
Press links to come…
Wine Tasting and Appetizers
November 1994
Valentines Day Sweet Feast
February 1995
Restoration Radiant Health
April 1995
Bikes, Burgers, and Brews
May 5, 1995
Summer Savory Celebration
August 25, 1995
Pasta-O-Rama
(date listed in BAA newsletter calendar says this was on 06-16-1995)
September 1995
Halloween Spooky Tooth Feast
October 1995
BAA Humbug Bash
December 1995
The Like Water for Chocolate Party
February 16, 1996
Babette’s Green Tie Feast
April 13, 1996
A seven course, sit-down banquet including a course-by-course explanation of the special foods and companies contributing to the feast. The menu was a collaborative effort of Duane Bosse (head chef of The Flea Street Cafe) and Laura Stec. Inspired by the movie “Babette's Feast.”
Homebrew and BAA-B-Q
June 7, 1996
Welcome Back Pizza Party
September 27, 1996
The Living Thanksgiving
November 1996
The Sing and Cook Italian Party
February 1997
Feast for the Forest: The WWWeb of Life
April 12, 1997 · Earth Day event
Location: Silicon Graphics, Mountain View
Featured a recycled fashion show.
Homebrew and BAA-B-Q II
August 1997
Food for the Future
October 1997
BAAchanalian Banquet
January 24, 1998
Location: Thornewood Estate
Music by Sheepdog (featuring BAA co-founder Bill Weber)
Una Noche con El Niño
February 1998
A Sense of Plates
April 18, 1998
Foods from Around the Bay Area.
Location: KnoWhere Store, Palo Alto
Cost _ TBD; $5 off for dressing as your favorite BAA character or thing.
Wok on the Wild Side
June 1998
Edible Art and Appetizers
October 8, 1999
Location: Belle Marino’s home
Featuring Earth Circus and their Stilt Light Parade.
Friday the 13th: Superstitious Supper
October 13, 2000
Location: Tom and Debby Kramer’s home in San Carlos
Seven creative courses included the Build-Your-Own-Bruschetta-Toasts-and-Topping-Bar, Market Basket Salad (with four-leaf clovers and “wishbone” dressing), and Black Cat Pie. Featured a casino, entertainment by Tony Kahlife.
Cost: $20 members, $25 non-members.
Le Diner de la Decadence
February 24, 2001
French vegetarian theme
Sustainable Supper
April 2001 · Earth Day event
Tastes of the Bay
April 13, 2002 · Earth Day event
Highlighting organic foods from the coastal regions, featuring organic wines, beers brewed in the Pacific Northwest, and produce grown within 50 miles of the South Bay.
Location: Coyote Point Museum, San Mateo.
Cost: $40 Acterra members, $50 non-members, sliding scale.
10 Year Anniversary
April 24, 2004
Location: Home of Tom & Sharon Wagner, Palo Alto
Planet on Our Plate
April 2005
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