SARATOGA SPRINGS – Saratoga Performing Arts Center announces a new CulinaryArts@SPAC series entitled Food as Medicine – featuring culinary tastings and drinks alongside insightful conversations with experts, physicians and writers discussing how food, lifestyle and wellness practices can support longevity, help to prevent disease, and manage chronic health conditions. Kicking off the new initiative is Brain Health Kitchen with Dr. Annie Fenn in conversation with WAMC’s Joe Donahue on January 27, followed by Plants First with Dr. Katie Takayasu on March 25. The series will take place from 6 to 8:30 p.m.in the Nancy DiCresce Room at The Pines at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
“As we approach the new year and the season of resolutions, exploring the link between food and health makes for a particularly timely topic. Both Dr. Annie Fenn and Dr. Katie Takayasu are fascinating speakers who integrate science and medicine into their culinary and wellness practices, making for an accessible, motivating and delicious way to start 2023,” says Elizabeth Sobol, President and CEO of Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
Preceding the conversations, guests can enjoy mocktails, wine, and beer along with bites like Cod Pancakes, Crispy Cauliflower Tacos, Salmon with Avocado Butter, Brown Rice Paella with Shrimp and Artichokes, and Almond Butter Tahini Blondies from Brain Health Kitchen andtastings such as Coriander and Flax Roasted Eggplant, Almond Furikake Crusted Halibut with Coconut Lime Cream, and Extra Dark Chocolate Avocado Mousse from Plants First: A Physician’s Guide to Wellness Through a Plant-Forward Diet.
Beyond its amphitheater stage, SPAC has become a year-round gathering place celebrating the artistry of food in building community while empowering individuals to understand how what we eat influences our communities and our planet. The CulinaryArts@SPAC initiative, founded in 2020, combines culinary excellence and education with exquisite food that emphasizes socially conscious cultivation and consumption, local procurement, and fair wages. Most recently, CulinaryArts@SPAC hosted “The Miracle of Salt with Naomi Duguid” featuring culinary tastings and conversation as part of Duguid’s international book tour.
CulinaryArts@SPAC: Food as Medicine is produced by Kim Klopstock of Lily and the Rose and Pam Abrams. Additional support is provided by The Savory Pantry, an artisan food gift and cookbook purveyor.
Tickets to attend Brain Health Kitchen with Dr. Annie Fenn are $75 and include drinks (mocktails, wine and beer) and tastings along with admission to the conversation. Attendees can also purchase copies of Brain Health Kitchen at a specially discounted price of $30 ($35 retail). A book signing with the author will immediately follow the discussion. Tickets to Plants First with Dr. Katie Takayasu will be on sale at a later date. Seating is on a first come basis. Visit spac.org for details.
CULINARY ARTS: FOOD AS MEDICINE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
FRIDAY, JAN 27, 2023 | 6PM:
Brain Health Kitchen with Dr. Annie Fenn
Moderated by WAMC’s Joe Donahue
The Pines at Saratoga Performing Arts Center
An intriguing discussion moderated by WAMC’s Joe Donahue with physician and chef Dr. Annie Fenn, who specializes in Alzheimer’s prevention. Explore which foods are neuroprotective, which ones accelerate cognitive decline, and how to prepare foods using brain-friendly cooking techniques.
Try specialty tastings like Cod Pancakes, Crispy Cauliflower Tacos, Salmon with Avocado Butter, Brown Rice Paella with Shrimp and Artichokes, and Almond Butter Tahini Blondies along with mocktails, wine and beer.
Tickets are $75 and are available at spac.org.
SAT, MARCH 25, 2023 | 6PM
Plants First with Dr. Katie Takayasu
The Pines at Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Integrative Medicine physician, author, and speaker in the holistic health space, Dr. Katie Takayasu, will lead a conversation on why a more plant-forward diet is helpful to longevity, disease prevention, and in the management of many chronic health conditions. Learn how to build more plant-rich food into your life with easy and practical tips.
Enjoy tastings from Plants First: A Physician’s Guide to Wellness Through a Plant-Forward Diet such as Coriander and Flax Roasted Eggplant, Almond Furikake Crusted Halibut with Coconut Lime Cream, and Extra Dark Chocolate Avocado Mousse along with mocktails, wine and beer.
Tickets will be on sale at a later date.
* Menus may change according to market availability.
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Dr. Annie Fenn is a physician and chef focused on Alzheimer’s prevention. In 2015, she founded the Brain Health Kitchen, an evidence-based online resource about how and what to eat to resist cognitive decline. Soon after, she launched the Brain Health Kitchen Cooking School, the only school of its kind focused specifically on fending off Alzheimer’s and other dementias. Fenn teaches her students which foods are neuroprotective, which ones accelerate cognitive decline, and how to prepare foods using brain-friendly cooking techniques. She has taught the Brain Health Kitchen method of cooking throughout the U.S. and abroad in diverse venues such as women’s and men’s groups, churches, schools, and wellness retreats, both in-person and virtually.
Dr. Katie Takayasu is an Integrative Medicine physician, author, and speaker in the holistic health space, bridging the gap between traditional Western medicine and the evidenced-based complementary health tools of nutrition, acupuncture, meditation, botanicals and lifestyle optimization. She works one-on-one helping clients to recognize their own innate wisdom for finding balance in the mind, body and spirit with Wellness Insights and in group settings with the gentle but effective Dr. Katie Detox, a jumpstart to reclaiming wellness and lifestyle balance by harnessing the body’s natural wisdom for detoxification. She is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Columbia University/New York Presbyterian and teaches the next generation of doctors about healing the whole patient mind, body and spirit.
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