Dear Friends of Wilbur,
Just a quick reminder about our upcoming Guest Chef Weekend, February 25-26. Currently we just have a few rooms left, so if you're interested in joining us, please call us soon! The cost for five meals (Friday dinner; Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner; and Sunday brunch) is just $100 per person extra. A vegetarian option will be available at each meal.
We are delighted that our February Guest Chef will be Rachel Fann, who says "she has been cooking since she could reach the stove." Rachel has been a chef at Esalen since 1991. This multi-talented chef also is a member of Esalen's massage crew, a talented painter, and co-owner of a catering business called Labor of Love.
Here's what else Rachel has to say about her time in the kitchen. She wants to convey: "...my love and passion for cooking with love and intention, which I think is the single most important ingredient in anything that I do.
I've spent my entire life in the kitchen...having been raised in the south, I had great cooks, with a scratch cooking tradition, teaching me. I remember summers in Oklahoma on my Aunt Mamies Pear orchard, peeling pears, and making preserves, to standing on a chair in my Mom's kitchen, making cookies, and goodies. I've cooked on trail rides in Texas, as a young woman on a ranch, to sophisticated catering for 30 overlooking the coast of Big Sur.
Every year I travel to Mexico and try to duplicate delicious dishes I find there, which are so varied!" If you are unable to make it next weekend, mark your calendar for March 18-19, our next Guest Chef Weekend. Also a reminder that massage (Swedish, deep tissue and other techniques) and facials are available at Wilbur seven days a week by licensed professional therapists. On the weekend of February 25-26, Dr. Shalama Yachove, Rex Stromness CMT and others will be on hand to work out the kinks and make your weekend at Wilbur even more soothing. Shalama joined the Wilbur massage team over 20 years ago and recently returned. After living and working at Wilbur she entered city life and worked her way through undergraduate and then chiropractic medical college, then established herself and her professional practice in Sacramento.
Former massage director and Wilbur resident, Rex Stromness has practiced, studied and taught massage therapy for the past 20 years. He received his California certification from the Esalen Institute in 1988. His approach, termed "Musculo-Skeletal Mobilization" is a blend of deep tissue, myofascial release, Esalen and acupressure. Advance reservations for massage requested, and can be made when you make your reservation or at the front desk during your stay. Massage rates start at $45 for one-half hour. See you at Wilbur!
Richard
Richard Louis Miller, M.A., Ph.D.,
Wilbur Caretaker since 1972
www.wilburhotsprings.com