[con•fab (kon’fab), –n. 1. a conference or exchange of views
or ideas or information on a familiar topic. –v. 2. to converse informally; chat.]

At its start-up three years ago, the Confablieri consisted of fellow chefs hanging out and chatting over drinks. Soon, the group started cooking and breaking bread with one another. It wasn’t long before a light bulb went off and they started getting together to share their kitchen magic with San Diegans via unique grand scale dinner events.

Each Confab dinner takes place at a member’s restaurant and features an edible-driven theme or exotic central ingredient. A January truffle dinner filled the already lush confines of Jsix with the divine scent of those earthen treasures, which are admittedly expensive, but thanks to the Confab could, for one enchanted evening, be enjoyed at a reasonable rate.

These comrades view affordability as a key component to the accessibility they strive for as they attempt to inform and delight the masses, not just the affluent. It’s the type of selfless pursuit that is rare in other big dining cities. “Nowhere else in the country are you going to get seven chefs together for a seven-course dinner that features all truffles or foie gras at 85 bucks a pop, or a dinner where seven+ chefs serve all of the ingredients raw,” says Graves.

(Thanks to Brandon Hernàndez for this look at the Confab, which ran in the March 2009 issue of Pacific San Diego Magazine. Click here to download the March 09 issue and read the full article.)

Brandon Hernández is a native San Diegan with a passion for the culinary arts and the local dining scene. He has been featured numerous times on The Food Network hit program Emeril Live, is the author of a cookbook titled The Restaurant At Home and offers his expertise on food preparation and menu planning as a culinary consultant via the San Diego-based Deep Crimson Culinary Visions. He welcomes you to offer your feedback, questions, comments and general conversation at deepcrimson2008@gmail.com