Los Vegas, NV – The cities of San Francisco, CA, Los Angeles, CA, and Las Vegas, NV welcomed keynote speaker, Master Chef Marti Mongiello to kick off celebrating amazing different flavors the United States enjoys. The chef dined with Steven Lee at the famous Sam Wo’s restaurant in Chinatown for research on a new exhibit at the US Presidential Culinary Museum featuring the Chinese American Executive Chef to the President of Lee Ping Quan. Then took the stage at the famed California Club on May 31st in a 35-minute tear captivating the audience after an excellent luncheon of Bronzed Salmon over Peeled Asparagus or Verde Risotto. Invited as a Paul Harris Fellow by The Rotary Club of Los Angeles (rotaryla5.org) to speak, the chef was well received and had the audience laughing at least three or four times. It became obvious he was a master storyteller that holds the camera and writers vividly. On June 4th, in Las Vegas, NV he hosted lady Presidents Pauline Crawford and Kay Doxilly live streaming from the Palazzo Resort at the Venetian Hotel highlighting women professionals in the world and all that women have to offer as 52% of the world’s workforce is ladies. On June 8th, he announced the upcoming exhibit to feature Kathy Buckley, Irish-American Executive Chef of the White House to three presidents will launch in New York, NY during a keynote speech at Bloom’s Tavern on June 30th.
As Chef Mongiello is a member of Rotary International he mentioned Rotary’s astounding feats of polio eradication from a former 58,000 cases per year to less than 100 now, 160 million in grants per year, 46,000 clubs worldwide, and a Charity Navigator rating of 100 out of 100, Mongiello beamed with pride about being in Rotary.
Shifting to his first invitation to come and live in LA, Mongiello asked the audience to cheer his former boss, Kathy Kennedy, the CEO at Lucasfilm and said, “let’s hear it for female CEOs like Kathy.” The crowd responded willingly and cheered him on.
Mongiello then stunned the audience with entertaining episodes from his creative mind of shows filmed on Inside the Presidents’ Cabinet and featured worldwide on stage and television. Spanning shows across CNN, FOX, CBS, ABC, NBC, and PBS the guests loved his story about inventing mango and banana vinaigrette dressings for Hillary and Bill Clinton and shipping in Krispy Kreme doughnuts to the White House, a fellow butler meeting President Reagan nude for the first time accidentally while trying to deliver a CIA package, how the Reagans adored a TV dinner or First Lady Nancy Reagan’s Coconut Macaroons (served to the crowd and on the table to enjoy), as well as hilarious stories of Jackie’s best friend Princess Grace coming for lunch at the White House with her husband, Prince Ranier (and how JFK mistakenly called him Prince Reindeer during the meal).
The Q&A session after was lively and chef mentioned, “Now this is the good part – the questions!!!” In closing, he mentioned how the US Presidential Culinary Museum brings solace to people across America when they find out how typical and normal the first families are. Hail to the Chef was played at the end with a round of applause, three donations to entrepreneurs across Los Angeles made by Mongiello and his chef wife, Stormy, feeding the homeless on Hollywood Boulevard, donating to a Myanmar Water Project, and the Rotary Club of Los Angeles announcing a $2500.00 scholarship in his name for a new college student.
The United States Presidential Service Center
The United States Presidential Culinary Museum
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