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Gala Silent Auction
Extraordinary Experiences
Personal Penguin Encounter
FAIR MARKET PRICE: PRICELESS
Step behind the scenes and meet one of the stars from our penguin colony in the new Splash Zone: Ocean Homes. Bring your camera for a portrait of you and your new feathered friend. Package includes Aquarium admission for up to four people, ages 7 and up.
Donated by Monterey Bay Aquarium
Sonoma Cutrer Vineyards
Tour and Lunch
FAIR MARKET PRICE: $300
Treat yourself and three guests to a tour of a vineyard and winery that is not generally open to the public. Wander through majestic vineyards and meet some of the people behind the world-famous wines.Your tour concludes with an intimate lunch for four.
Settle in with four premium seats to a 2008 San Francisco Giants game at AT&T Park; plus a gift certificate for $300 to ACME Chophouse , where you’ll enjoy locally raised meats and poultry, locally caught fish and just-picked produce from small organic farms.
Donated by
Ireland Experience
FAIR MARKET PRICE: $1,500
Experience a 2 ½ -day cooking class with Ireland’s most celebrated chef and bestselling author Darina Allen at her Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork, Ireland. Valid for one person for a 2009 pre-scheduled class (subject to availability). Two nights’ lodging included. Airfare NOT included.
Get an exclusive look at the Aquarium "kitchen," where we cook up the food that our animals enjoy every day! You'll join Aquarium staff as they prep and serve food to some of your favorite creatures, then enjoy a tasty lunch for your group in the Aquarium’s Portola Restaurant. Package includes Aquarium admission for up to eight people, ages 8 and up.
Donated by Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Maine Event
FAIR MARKET PRICE: $2,000
Travel with a companion via Southwest Airlines to the quaint town of Ogunquit, Maine, where you’ll enjoy two nights’ lodging at the romantic Hartwell House Inn, a bed and breakfast. Arrows restaurant owners, Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier will serve you a six-course tasting menu with wine pairings.
We’ll fly two of you to Las Vegas on Southwest, where you’ll settle in for two nights at Mandalay Bay, and enjoy a Chef’s Tasting Menu with Wine Pairing for two at Rick Moonen’s RM Seafood.
Enjoy a luxurious weekend getaway for two. You’ll be treated to two nights’ lodging and a spa treatment at Gaia, Napa Valley’s first fully environmentally sustainable hotel and spa. Your package includes a spectacular wine dinner presented by well-known chef Peter Pahk at the Silverado Resort and accompanied with Sonoma Cutrer wines. Limousine transportation between Gaia and Silverado included.
Bring your ten favorite people to the Aquarium and sleep with the fishes in our Outer Bay Wing. You’ll enjoy a family style dinner prepared by local chefs Dory Ford, Bon Appétit Management Company at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and Tim Wood, Bernardus Lodge. Your official Aquarium host will give you an insider’s view of the Aquarium. In the morning, enjoy a continental breakfast in our restaurant. Package includes Aquarium Admission.
Donated by Monterey Bay Aquarium
Greystone Sophisticated Palate—The Culinary Institute of America
FAIR MARKET PRICE: $7,495
Join celebrity chef John Ash for a four-day luxury food and wine experience in the Napa Valley. This is a one-of-a-kind learning experience—a culinary immersion that will expose you to both bold cuisines and the subtleties of food and wine paring. Lodging is NOT included.
Be the first on your block to own a rare masterpiece created by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s very own blackfooted penguin artist SuSu, using a colorful palette of non-toxic paints.
Donated by Monterey Bay Aquarium
Tom Hewitt’s Slot Canyon No. 7
FAIR MARKET PRICE: $350
Own a stunning 22 by 28 color digital archival print by this well-known local photographer.
Donated by Tom Hewitt
Tom Hewitt’s Nambe Trading Post
FAIR MARKET PRICE: $350
Enjoy a beautiful 20 by 28 black and white digital archival print by this well-known local photographer.
Donated by Tom Hewitt
Alton Brown’s Kitchen Essentials
FAIR MARKET PRICE: $400
Take home Alton’s Grilling Essentials Kit, plus Alton's Angles (his Signature Shun Cutlery); and an autographed set of his books, including I'm Just Here for the Food.
This is a premium package of wines for serious wine lovers. You’ll take home four magnums of Turley’s finest vintages—2000 Vineyard 101 Zinfandel, 2001 Hayne Vineyard Petit Syrah, 2002 Turley Estate Petit Syrah, and 2003 Duarte Zinfanel
You’ll be the proud owner of a 20 by 30 signed and framed, limited-edition Cibachrome photographic print by Bob Talbot, the world-renowned marine photographer and filmmaker. Its elegance and unsurpassed permanence makes this print the choice of a serious collector.
This is the deluxe cookware preferred by professional chefs. Now it’s yours to use at home. Package includes a seven-piece Copper-Core™ set, a slow cooker, and a stainless fish skillet with large turner for your sustainable cooking needs.
A 10 by 6 original bronze and hand-blown glass lamp from a limited edition of 250 pieces by cutting-edge American artist Dale Evers of Paso Robles, California.
Michael Schwab has established a national reputation as one of America’s leading graphic artists. He has created award-winning logos and posters for a prestigious list of clients. This trio of signed lithographs, each 24 by 36, is a must for the serious wine lover and art collector.
Donated by
Additional Items
A Taste of Kodiak: Alaskan Gift Basket
FAIR MARKET PRICE: $120
Enjoy a basket of Alaskan goodies from Kodiak, Alaska
Coffee Lover’s Delight: Mill Bay Coffee Gift Basket
FAIR MARKET PRICE: $160
Experience the freshness and purity of Mill Bay coffee with this package of assorted roasts. The brews will appeal to discerning palates, and are something you’ll never find on discount food shelves.
All Cooking for Solutions events support the Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program, which works to change the seafood market in ways that preserve healthy ecosystems that sustain ocean wildlife.
