Kent, Wash – The Angelo Pellegrini Foundation has announced that Frank Isernio will be the recipient of the 2013 Angelo Pellegrini Award, which is presented annually to an awardee who is distinguished by long and dedicated service to the ideals espoused by author and Italian food and wine evangelist Angelo Pellegrini. Pellegrini is revered by culinary industry professionals, including Alice Waters, Ruth Reichl and Mario Batali – who wrote the forward to the recent re-publication of Pellegrini’s book The Unprejudiced Palate – as having a lasting and guiding influence on their careers.
The annual award ceremony honoring Frank Isernio will take place on Friday, October 25th at The Canal in Seattle, and will consist of a festive dinner celebrating what Pellegrini called “The Good Life:” Fine food, wine, community and the culture of the table. The event’s seasonal, multi-course menu will be created by Armandino Batali (2007 Pellegrini awardee), owner of Salumi in Seattle, and Roy Breiman, culinary director of the Copperleaf Restaurant in Normandy Park’s boutique hotel Cedarbrook Lodge.
Frank Isernio is founder, president and chief executive officer of Isernio’s Sausage. Founded in 1980 in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle and now based in Kent, Washington, Isernio’s Sausage crafts fresh, lean, all-natural sausage products which are available in restaurants and grocery stores across the country.
From the words of a Pellegrini family member, “This award exists for, and because of people like Frank, and all they’ve done and continue to do for our community here in Seattle.”
Each year, a committee composed of members of the Pellegrini family and of previous winners of the award chooses a person who has contributed significantly and over the long term to the life and well-being of the people of the Pacific Northwest in one or more of the following areas:
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Agriculture—
encouraging local food production, with an emphasis on freshness, seasonality and organic practices.
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Viticulture—
promoting high standards for the growth and vinification of fine grape varieties as well as encouraging home grape growers and winemakers.
- Culinary—campaigning for the service of appetizing and nourishing food both on restaurant and family tables, through education as well as example.
- Literary—furthering all the above goals through writing, publishing, film, and new media alike.
Angelo Pellegrini (1904 – 1991) was an author of books about the pleasures of growing and making your own food and wine, and about the Italian immigrant experience. He was also a professor of English Literature at the University of Washington. Pellegrini's family emigrated from Tuscany to McCleary, Washington in 1913 where his father worked for the railroad.
The Angelo Pellegrini Foundation is a non-profit organization created to propagate the pioneering ideas of Angelo Pellegrini, who preached the virtues of good food, good wine, and good company.
For more information on Angelo Pellegrini and the Pellegrini Foundation, visit http://pellegrinifoundation.org
For more information on the celebration dinner on October 25, please visit http://pellegrinifoundation.org/
ABOUT ISERNIO’S SAUSAGE
Isernio’s Sausage Company was founded by Frank Isernio, who grew up in Seattle, Washington and transformed a love for quality food and his home sausage-making hobby into a brand that is now trusted and asked for by name. All-natural and made with fresh 95 percent lean chicken or 80 percent lean pork, Isernio’s Sausage provides a tasty and healthy choice for consumers. No additives, preservatives, fillers or artificial flavors are ever used, and a wide variety, including Italian, Chicken and Breakfast varieties, are offered in supermarkets across the U.S. Learn more about the company and find recipes at http://www.isernio.com. For a full list of retailers that carry Isernio’s Sausage, visit http://www.isernio.com/
