Daylighting & Upwelling: The Story of a River and a Community at di Rosa Downtown
Date & Time: May 31 | 6PM – 9PM
Location: di Rosa Downtown | 1300 First St., Ste 251, Napa
Tickets: $70 General; $50 Members
Join us for Daylighting & Upwelling: The Story of a River and a Community, an evening of food, music, and conversation celebrating the dynamic waterways of the Napa region, presented in conjunction with the exhibition Second Nature at di Rosa Downtown.
Beneath our cities and towns is a hidden network of “ghost rivers”: waterways that have been boxed into culverts and built over, disrupting natural ecologies and habitats and contributing to flooding and pollution, particularly as sea levels rise. The process of “daylighting” — uncovering and restoring the health of these buried streams — in Napa began in the 1970’s with portions of Napa Creek, continuing through the present with the Napa River/Napa Creek Flood Protection Project. This “living river” plan has created more city green space and a safe riverfront for businesses to thrive and restored the environmental integrity of the region’s waterways.
The evening’s menu is developed by Maria Finn, author of Forage. Gather. Feast. and founder of The Institute for Ecosystem Based Living. The four-course meal celebrates the bounty of the Napa River watershed and surrounding region, highlighting local and foraged ingredients for a true taste of terroir.
With a performance of songs honoring our waterways from vocal trio Kitka Trio, and remarks from Dr. Amber Mace, Managing Director/Chief of Strategy, California Academy of Sciences.
Menu
Portside sourdough with Tsar Nicolai smoked sturgeon rillettes & seaweed butter.
Star Route Farms salad greens with pickled bladderwrack and shallots, kombu gomasio, and puffed quinoa, dressed with mulberry & kombu vinaigrette. Self-garnish with wildflowers of the Napa Valley.
Uni cacio e pepe pasta with crème fraiche, preserved lemon, and pink peppercorn.
California Bay nut and rose petal jam cookies and fresh fruit.
Poseidon Vineyard Rosé for the Bay by Obsidian Wines.
About the Participants:
Maria Finn
Maria Finn is a writer, chef, and storyteller. She’s the author of the recently published cookbook Forage. Gather. Feast. and founder of Flora & Fungi Adventures and The Institute of Ecosystem Based Living. She has an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and has taught creative and feature writing at Stanford University among other places. Maria has told stories for The Moth Mainstage at the Museo del Barrio in New York City and the Castro Theater in San Francisco. She was a fellow in the first creative cohort in the Design Science Studio and Living Systems Collaboratory, as part of the Buckminster Fuller Society. She was an Artist-in-Residence at Autodesk’s Pier 9 Makerspace and created an edible map of the San Francisco Bay that is on display at the San Francisco Exploratorium. She was Chef-in-Residence for Stochastic Labs, a residency for artists, scientists, and tech innovators in Berkeley.
Kitka Trio
A trio from the acclaimed Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble presents a short concert featuring a variety of traditional polyphonic music — work songs, healing songs, sacred/liturgical, and ritual melodies — from Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Caucasus Georgia. The music reflects the lives of everyday women, revealing a range of traditional ecologies, folklore, and the deeply communal nature of multi-voiced singing traditions. The trio consists of Kelly Atkins, Kristine Barrett, and Janet Kutulus.
Dr. Amber Mace
Dr. Amber Mace is the Managing Director/Chief of Strategy at California Academy of Sciences. She leads strategy for the Academy and oversees the Academy’s divisions dedicated to science and education, as well as Steinhart Aquarium, strategic partnerships, government affairs and strategic planning. Before joining the Academy, Mace served with the California Council on Science and Technology; the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy; the National Marine Sanctuary Program in San Francisco; and elsewhere. In addition, Mace served nine years on the National Sea Grant Advisory Board at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She is also a member of the California Sea Grant Advisory Board and the San Francisco Estuary Institute Board of Directors. Mace earned a BA in geography from the University of California, Berkeley, a PhD in ecology from the University of California, Davis, and an MBA from the Wharton School.