Proceeds to improve quality of life for breast cancer patients when famous chefs join fourth annual
Women with breast cancer will reap the benefit when Bay Area gourmets and others gather on Sunday, September 29 to watch cooking demonstrations by renowned chefs Annie Somerville of Greens and Anne Gingrass of Desiree and sample treats from favorite local restaurants like Hyde Park Bistro.
A benefit for the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center, the fourth annual “Taste for the Cure” at the Golden Gate Club in the Presidio has as its theme “living well after breast cancer.”
“Living well after breast cancer is not a contradiction,” said Laura Esserman, MD, MBA, director of the Breast Care Center. ” We need to pay attention to the quality of life and the many issues in diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care that can improve how women feel day-to-day.”
Esserman said the event will offer hope for the approximately 3000 Bay Area women each year who are diagnosed with breast cancer.
Attendees will have the opportunity to watch demonstrations by cookbook author and Greens chef Annie Somerville as well as chef Anne Gingrass of Desiree. Somerville is an accomplished vegetarian chef.
Gingrass, formerly of Postrio and Hawthorne Lane, has recently opened her café Desiree in the Presidio.
“Healing hearts” - fabric art to encourage healing - will be on display, and attendees will have the opportunity to create the felt hearts in honor of lives affected by breast cancer. Musicians will contribute to the Golden Gate Club’s festive atmosphere. Attendees can take part in a silent auction of health-and-wellness-related items including dinners at Café Chez Panisse and Top of the Mark, a VIP tour and tasting for four at Folie a Deux and classes at Yoga Tree.
The Breast Care Center will use the proceeds to support a staff psychologist, gynecologist, and other patient support services.
For all patients, regardless of their health status, supportive services enhance the quality of life after diagnosis.
At the event’s educational panel presentations, UCSF faculty will help raise awareness of living well after breast cancer. The speakers will address quality of life during and after diagnosis by discussing practical matters such as nutrition, worklife, psychological adjustment and coping with symptoms of menopause and treatment side effects.
Part of the UCSF Medical Center, the Breast Care Center is a multidisciplinary medical practice, specifically designed to provide women with streamlined, specialized breast health services based on an integrative model of care. Taste for the Cure is the only annual fundraising event directly benefiting the Breast Care Center, which provides services to 13,000 patients annually.
“The patients and the staff of the Breast Care Center continue to be very touched by the community’s generosity,” said Esserman. “Taste for the Cure helps fund our comprehensive care approach which starts with risk reduction counseling and continues through treatment, follow-up care, and access to cutting edge therapeutic clinical trials,” she said.
Advance tickets can be purchased for $60 by calling 415-885-7388. Ticket price at the door on the day of the event will be $70. Children 12 and under are admitted free. For information, or to purchase tickets on the Internet, go to www.tasteforthecure.org. For more information call 415-885-7388.