Twilight Supper, Jones Valley Teaching Farm's annual fundraiser, raises meaningful funds that propel JVTF's growth and impact on youth and the Birmingham community.
2023 Featured Culinary Lineup
Claudette Zepeda | Dinner
Claudette is an award winning, San Diego based chef and culinary entrepreneur known for her fearless style and bold approach to regional Mexican cuisine. A celebrated culinary anthropologist, Zepeda draws upon 20+ years of experience working in restaurant kitchens, as well as her extensive travels around the world and throughout Mexico that inform her vast knowledge of indigenous ingredients and cross-cultural expressions of cuisine. Zepeda's multifaceted expertise is showcased in her role overseeing the creative vision as Founder of Chispa Hospitality, including food concepts in Australia and Mexico. VAGA restaurant in San Diego's North County is where she authors a love letter to her hometown with a menu that celebrates local flavors and immigrant influences. Zepeda was named both Eater San Diego and San Diego Union Tribune's Chef of the Year in 2018, and was a James Beard Best Chef West semifinalist in 2019.
In 2019 Zepeda Founded Viva La Vida, LLC., establishing micro businesses with single mothers throughout Mexico's seven regions to import their heirloom ingredients previously unavailable in the U.S. Through Viva La Vida, she helps Mexican women support their families without sacrificing their safety. Named for a famous Frida Kahlo quote, the company celebrates the colorful life and death Mexicans lead, with plans to grow into a 501(c)(3) dedicated to helping Hispanic women break from generational poverty in the U.S.
Claudia Martinez | Dessert
Claudia is a 2022 James Beard Foundation Award-nominated Outstanding Pastry Chef and 2023 StarChefs Pastry Chef Rising Star Award winner. Claudia balances chef Steven Satterfield's rustic, vegetable-forward and market-driven new Southern cuisine with sophisticated and carefully composed desserts. The ever-changing pastry menu reflects Martinez's boundless creativity and intellectual curiosity, with classic flavors and combinations artfully presented.
Growing up in a Venezuelan family, Martinez developed a passion for cooking and gathering around the table at an early age. Claudia began her culinary career at Atlanta's Restaurant Eugene before moving to Sweden in 2017 where she honed her skills under chef David Vidal at the Laholmen Hotel. Upon returning to Atlanta, she continued to develop her style, techniques, and reputation at Atlas and Tiny Lou's. Outside of her work at Miller Union, Martinez operates Cafe Claudia, an Atlanta-based pop-up cafe featuring desserts and pastries that partner with and benefit local BIPOC chefs and social justice organizations.
Jose de Jesus Medina Camacho | Cocktails
Jose is co-founder and beverage director of Adios Bar in Birmingham, AL. Born in Michoacan, Mexico, and raised in Birmingham, Camacho began working in the restaurant business at an early age. After years of working in beverage management at Birmingham's Little Donkey, Octane, and The Marble Ring, Jose accepted the Lead Bartender position at Automatic Seafood & Oysters in early 2019. At Adios Bar, Camacho manages day-to-day operations and leads menu curation of the establishment's unique listing of classic cocktails crafted with Mexican-made-and-grown spirits and ingredients that showcase the cultural fabric of Mexico City.
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