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Annual Gourmet Dinner 2004
byMary Nada 
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Christian Thornton (left) with fellow chefs
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“Vineyard House is a wonderful social program.
I am person-ally thrilled to get together with my fellow chef colleagues
for such a relevant cause. It means a lot to me that the money raised
stays on this Island, impacting local social issues.”
When Christian Thornton, chef and owner of Atria in
Edgar-town, opened his restaurant in spring of 2000, he put out feelers
among his fellow chefs to see how they could get together in support of
an Island cause. This seemed only natural, since as a chef in Dallas,
in San Francisco, and later, in Washington DC, he had been doing multi-chef
events for various non-profit causes, among them the Chef’s Collaborative
and Share Our Strength, a program that addresses hunger and poverty world-wide.
About that same time, Espresso Love owner and chef Carol McManus went
to Christian asking for his help. Carol is an active Vineyard House board
member, chairing the Annual Gourmet dinner each spring. This event began
in 2000, when Joe DaSilva offered to throw a fundraising dinner for VH
at his Oak Bluffs restaurant, The Stand-By Café, with help from
numerous fellow Vineyard chefs. It was a huge success, and the following
year he and the owners of Zephrus in Vineyard Haven, where he had moved,
hosted the second Gourmet Benefit Dinner. In early 2002, when Zephrus
was damaged by fire, Carol went looking for another venue, and turned
to Christian, at Atria. He enthusiastically took on the event, and has
hosted it there ever since. The 2004 dinner was his third and our fifth
Gourmet Benefit Dinner. Christian has been cooking since the age of 13,
when he was hired to chop vegetables for a San Francisco catering business.
He soon graduated to cooking there, which he continued throughout his
high school years on evenings and weekends, obtaining his formal training
as a chef from the California Culinary Academy. Christian and his partner
Greer Boyle have been a tremendous addition to the Vineyard community
and plan to be married this December.
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