"Cart for a Cause Cookbook" to Benefit Senior Nutrition Program

Los Angeles, CA - Just in time for the holiday gifting - and entertaining - season, the Cart For A Cause Cookbook will make its debut November 30, 2011. Featuring nearly 40 of Los Angeles' top chefs, including established as well as rising stars, the book boasts Dana Hursey's stunning photos of each chef and one of the signature recipes they prepared while volunteering their food, time, staff and love on the Cart For A Cause mobile food truck.

Since its inception in 2010, the Cart, the nation's first philanthropic food truck, has raised vital financial support for St. Vincent Meals On Wheels, the country's largest, privately funded senior nutrition program. Funds raised by the Cart have already provided more than 12,000 meals to hungry, homebound seniors in the L.A. area. The Cart For A Cause Cookbook, presented by Cart sponsor Lexus, will extend the support of this mission, with proceeds from the book's sales going directly to St. Vincent Meals On Wheels.

Chefs highlighted in the one-of-a-kind compendium comprise a Who's Who of the L.A. culinary world, with their respective dishes spanning enticing starters, sides and salsas to delectable main courses to luxurious, toothsome desserts. Alex Becker, executive chef at the renowned Nobu Los Angeles has contributed Ribeye with Almond Nori Kaba Rub, atop an unctuous almond rosemary cream, while Suzanne Goin, chef-owner of Lucques and AOC, lends her recipe for bracing Pomegranate Salsa from Tavern, her latest eatery, and Joe Miller, whose eponymous Venice restaurant, Joe's, celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, has offered peppercorn and caper-spiked Tuna Tartar, garnished with preserved lemons and cucumbers.

Desserts sure to satisfy even the most jaded palates include Dave Myers' Vanilla Hazelnut Pancakes with Toasted Pistachios, Fresh Berries and Whipped Cream, and Sherry Yard's Raspberry Chocolate Chip Souffle.

"This cookbook brings together the artistry of some of L.A.'s most celebrated chefs, who have already given so generously of their time and talent to support St. Vincent Meals on Wheels via Cart For A Cause," commented Rick Llanos, a founding member of the St. Vincent Meals On Wheels Junior Advisory Board, adding, "Funds raised from the book sales increase the Cart's contribution and help us to reach out even further in cultivating a new generation of support for St. Vincent Meals on Wheels. This gorgeous cook-friendly cookbook also features a beautiful design by Ralph Fowler and exquisite photography by Dana Hursey, making it a perfect gift for a friend or even for yourself."

In addition to these offerings, foodie fans of such feted epicurean L.A. hotspots as the Lazy Ox Canteen, The Gorbals, Hungry Cat, Palate Food + Wine, The Little Door, Street, Mar'sel, Eva and Church & State will discover home kitchen how-to's for recreating dishes from these temples of taste as well - plus a bonus recipe for savory, soul-satisfying Eggplant Bake from none other than St. Vincent Meals On Wheels founder Sr. Alice Marie Quinn, DC, herself.

St. Vincent Meals On Wheels, the largest privately-funded organization of its kind in the country, serves over 4,700 meals a day, 365 days a year. The meals are prepared daily in the 16,000 square foot, state-of-the-art kitchen located at the Saint Vincent Medical Center Campus. Annually, over 1.1 million meals are prepared and delivered to people in Los Angeles, including homebound senior citizens, disabled and terminally ill patients and homeless adults and children.

Cart for a Cause is the nation's first philanthropic mobile food truck, featuring top celebrity chefs who donate their time and artistry to feed homebound senior citizens. The concept is simple: Each $10 meal purchased feeds a homebound senior citizen an entire day's worth of hot meals, delivered directly to them via a friendly St. Vincent Meals on Wheels volunteer. To date, the St. Vincent chapter of Meals on Wheels has supplied over 12,000 meals to homebound senior citizens in the Los Angeles area through this initiative, and has created a whole movement of passionate fans who follow them on Twitter and Facebook for notifications of Cart For A Cause's weekly locations.

For media inquiries or to request a review copy of the Cart For A Cause Cookbook please contact Rita Hollingsworth at RMH Media
(323) 934-9248 or [email protected]

THE CART FOR A CAUSE COOKBOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON
www.amazon.com and www.stvincentmow.org