8/8/2019 Metro: Art and Food Collide at Montalvo

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t] oOD S the art of everydayife." SosaidAndreaI ntum over unch at Montalvo astmonth.ThisI is not the kind of statement hat can be provenempirically, ut there are two reasons believeher.

First, Blum has forgotten more about an than I'll everknow.What makes her seem ike the ideal new chef for Montalvo's anist-in-residence ro$am (technically,he "culinary fellow") is that sheis truly, madly cross.disciplinary.She eamed frescopainting from aman'who once servedas he assistant o Diego Rivera.She was ivingin Italy then, alsoapprenticing o master cheesemakers.heworkedasa decorativepainter at the same ime shecreateda cookingschoolin Tuscany. hegraduated rom the Columbia SchoolofJoumalismin zoo3, focusingher reporting on food issues.Wherevershegoes,whatever shdsdoing, art and food are tightly internvined.The second eason was nclined to believeher is that shehadjust servedpossibly he bestmatzo ball soupI've everhad in mylife (active ngredienccardamom).The degreeo which this makesme more receptiveto soryreone'shilosophical musings cannot beunderestimated.If L. Ron Hubbard had ever servedme a fantasticmauo ball soup, I might be a Scientologistright now.Blum'smain iob over the courseof this fellowship s to keepMontalvo's other artists in residence ed. If it sounds ike one of thewilder ideas or an artistic residencyyotlive everheard, well, restassuredhat, asa whole,there is nothing quite like the Montalvoartist-in-residencypro$am. (Although that is changing now thatother groups are looking to Montalvo as a model for their ownresidency rograms.)Eaehyear'sartists,who go through an intenseselectionprocess'live and work in a $ro.5million complexof live/work studiosonMontalvo'sSaratoga rcperty that opened n zoo4 as he SallyandDon LucasArtists Programs.This didn t change he art center'smission-it hasbeenhostingartists n residenceor over70'years-but it did put its program on the cutting edge.The culinary residencydevelopednot long after that, out ofa "culinary curator" position.The first wasJessica heroux, who this year had a big hit with herbook CookingWitb ltalian Qrandmotbers.SallyLucas,he Montalvo trustee who was so instrumental inestablishingthe progmm that they named it after he5 hashad theopportunity to attend many of the dinners sewedby the culinaryresident to the other artists,and she calls hem "the best dinners youcould everhave."ts not just the food, of course,butalso he dinnerconversationthat bubbles up when artists from acrosshe spectrumofdisciplines are gatheredat one table'Blum has alsotaken on somepet projects like restoring Montalvo-sorchard-one of many ways her NorCal "fresh, local and organic"bent shows tself, "It's really important to know where my foodcomes rom," shesays.Blum will algohost three Saturdayworkshopsopen to the public(roam-rz:3opm; $55;$+5 or members).On Feb.5,she l tackle hetopic of lernons (including a lemon risotto recipe); on April-2, she'llcovef "The An of Pizzd':'and on Sept.17homegrown tomatoes.:Steoe Palaioli