Exceptional, World-Renowned Cuisine
The DaVinci Master Chefs are celebrated chefs from around the world who have found The Center for Discovery® primarily through Chef Cesare Casella, Chief of DNA®. Years ago, Chef Casella brought several colleagues who were awed by the use of fresh food as a therapeutic tool, to The Center. They immediately asked to get involved and the The DaVinci Master Chefs were born.
Each year, guest chefs come to The Center to teach their recipes based on the products from our Thanksgiving Farm® to The Center’s own residential chefs. Our chefs learn the recipes and take them back to the residences to prepare the dishes in our very own kitchens. Our residents then experience the culinary excellence designed by these master chefs, giving them a literal taste of the finest cuisine these world-renowned chefs have to offer.
The Big Barn Event
The Big Barn Event at The Center for Discovery® is an extraordinary evening where world-class chefs join a celebration of farming, food, and friends to honor the Department of Nourishment Arts’® (DNA®) living philosophy of Food is Medicine®. The event brings together the incomparable DaVinci Master Chefs who design a menu based exclusively on Thanksgiving Farm® products, with each chef contributing a recipe. These amazing dishes are then prepared onsite by gifted and generous chefs who donate their time and energy to honor The Center. It is quite a unique experience to have every dish related to a different chef and the comradery amongst the chefs in the kitchen is fantastic to see. Rarely do these artists get to work together in the same kitchen much less to produce a joint menu. Also on hand to be acknowledged are the farmers, The Center’s own residential chefs, and the DNA® nutritionists who are responsible for the daily practices of all things food at The Center. The evening is a remarkable homage to all that is wonderful about food and the people who ensure its quality at every phase.