Beach City Mayors Flex Their Culinary Skills in Blue Zone Cook-off at Abigaile Restaurant

The mayors of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Redondo Beach are teaming up with local celebrity chefs to prepare healthy, tasty dishes inspired by the Blue Zones Project.

The Cook-off will take place on Wednesday, January 9 at Abigaile Restaurant in Hermosa Beach and is FREE to attend. We’ll get to details on how to reserve your spot in a moment.

Right now, you’re probably wondering: what the heck is a Blue Zone!?

Blue Zones and Healthier Dining Options

Based on research pioneered by National Geographic, Blue Zones are areas where people live measurably better lives. Basically, the people living in Blue Zones live longer and are healthier lives than people in other areas of the world*.

Here’s a brief summary:

The Blue Zones Project initiative to become a Blue Zones Community™ is a systems approach that allows citizens, schools, employers, restaurants, grocery stores and community leaders to work together on policies and programs that will make the most impact and move the community towards optimal health and well-being.

For restaurants, Blue Zone policies include adding more healthy choices to the menu, only serving bread with meals when guests request it, or banning smoking from their patios and outdoor areas.

Citizens help create Blue Zones when they grow gardens, exercise moderately every day, and stop eating when they are 80% full. Focusing on family and social interactions also add to Blue Zones.

In September 2012, the mayors of the Beach Cities started a challenge to get 20% of their city’s residents to sign up in support of the Blue Zone initiative and pledge to at least one action towards improving their well-being.

While the challenge is a friendly one, Redondo Beach has a clear lead in the latest stats with Manhattan and Hermosa just about even. Follow this link to see the scoreboard.

You can help your city – and yourself! – by joining the Blue Zones project and pledging your support. Follow this link to sign up at BlueZonesProject.com.

The Mayors' Challenge Cook-off
The Mayors’ Challenge Cook-off. Can your mayor hanlde the heat!?

The Mayors and Celebrity Chefs Cook-off at Abigaile

Ok now back to the cook-off.

Each mayor will be teamed up with a well-known chef from their city hometown restaurant to present their city. They’ll be tasked to create a healthy, tasty dish in an “Iron Chef” style competition.

Guests at the event will be able to sample the dishes and a panel of chefs, community stakeholders, and media will be on hand to serve as judges.

I’m happy to tell you that I’m honored to be serving as one of the judges!**

With 200+ guests already expected, the few remaining spots for this free event are at a premium.

Follow this link to see if there’s still room for you to RSVP. Make sure you click the “Not You?” link to enter your name and email address BEFORE submitting your RSVP.

 

* Here’s a Wikipedia article on Blue Zones and another on the researcher, Dan Buettner.

** I was asked to participate in the Blue Zones Challenge in the Fall of 2012 and have been following their actions by email but haven’t been able to contribute until now. I signed up for the Blue Zones challenge and pledged to tune up my bike and ride more. Since the official Zip Code for South Bay Foodies is in Manhattan Beach, I am guessing my activity pledge will go to that city but my participation in the cook-off will be unbiased and based on the criteria given to me at the event. I’m sure the best dish will reign supreme! In any case, we all benefit from our hometowns bringing the Blue Zone cause to our attention.

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