BY SUSAN WENZEL
Whidbey Life Magazine contributor
April 30, 2014
The key to hosting the perfect dinner party is balance. The right mix of guests is just as important, if not more, than the menu, the music and the wine.
Award-winning travel and food writer Sue Frause has seemingly found the necessary equilibrium to ensure success in her culinary-themed live show, Kitsch ’N Bitch, held at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts in Langley. Now in its third season, Kitsch ’N Bitch follows a tried and true recipe each show by combining Grade A celebrity foodie personalities with great music, a signature cocktail, round table discussions and cooking demonstrations—all in front of a live audience.
Although each show incorporates the same basic ingredients, it’s the impromptu premise of each event that gives Kitsch ’N Bitch its famous flavor.
“That’s the fun part,” said Frause. “Kitsch ’N Bitch is unscripted and really live. I never know what is going to happen or what will be said. Things can go wrong and they sometimes do. There was one time when a chicken almost got out…that was a fun one!”
“It’s like a talk show,” continued Frause. “The audience comes in while the house band, Deja Blooze, is still warming up. After they are seated, I give a monologue and then introduce my guests who join me at the table to chat.”
Frause shops for chefs, farmers, vintners and others in the food world based upon their fit with the special theme for each Kitsch’ N Bitch event. These dinner guests may be locally sourced from Whidbey Island or even imported from faraway Seattle, but all are sure to bring their own opinions, ideas and styles to the table. The outcome is a not-to-be missed dish featuring friendly banter, sharp wit and a generous measure of laughs peppered with cooking tips and industry secrets, all served piping hot to the hungry audience.
The next feast—“Meet the Producers”—is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 3 and is comprised of all Whidbey Life Magazine members: Vincent Nattress, Vicky Brown, Maryon Atwood, Robbie Lobell and Gary and Beth Smith.
Chef Vincent Nattress of Cultivar Catering is a chef, caterer and proponent of the Slow Food movement. He strives to cook with the freshest foods Whidbey Island has to offer and often sources ingredients from his own organic garden.
Little Brown Farm is as well-known for its delectable 100% fresh goat milk Caprine Cream Chevre spreadable cheese and highly addictive Dulce de Leche as it is for the gregarious personality of its Chief Milkmaid, Vicky Brown.
Maryon Atwood and Robbie Lobell, creators of Cook on Clay handmade flameware pottery, recently expanded production with the installation of a new, larger kiln and will surely bring some of their stunning and durable cookware to demonstrate and display.
Gary and Beth Smith, owners and operators of Mukilteo Coffee Roasters, will be the guest bartenders for the evening. They will create the famous Kitsch ’N Bitch signature cocktail—with coffee, of course.
Tickets are available now for Saturday’s show at www.wicaonline.org/kitsch-n-bitch. If you can’t make it to this last Kitsch ’N Bitch in the 2013-2014 series, never fear—plans are already in the works for a delicious 2014-2015 season.
Susan Wenzel, food writer, believes in the power of locally produced food to fortify the health and well-being of both the individual and the community as a whole.
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Great piece, Susan!