---

Aspen, CO (December 11, 2020): Aspen Film is partnering with Mixn Match and Laws Whiskey to present a virtual Dinner & A Movie event on Saturday, December 19 at 6 PM. Proceeds will benefit the organization’s FilmEducates program. FilmEducates offers free programs for youth with limited access to age-appropriate cultural opportunities.  Its primary goal is to immerse young people throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and beyond in film and allow them to appreciate the medium as a means of personal expression, and a way to facilitate dialogue and connection.

The event will be presented in a virtual format in an effort to respect health, safety, and social distancing measures. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at AspenFilm.org.

Ticketholders will join a Mixn Match one-hour fun, interactive cooking class via Zoom with Chef Biju Thomas designed to engage chefs of all abilities. Chef Biju will lead the preparation and cooking of a baked Indian Biryani. Roaring Fork Valley locals can purchase a Premium Package that contains all the meal ingredients pre-measured, chopped, and ready to go. Also included in the package is a Laws Whiskey Old Chai Wallah cocktail kit & recipe for two, along with a Social Studies “After Hours” candle. The price for the Premium Package for two is $200 for Aspen Film members and $250 for non-members.

Purchasers of the Premium RF Valley Local Package will need to pick-up the bag of prepped ingredients between 2-5 PM on Saturday, December 19 at either The Red Brick Center for the Arts in Aspen or Blue Lake, Midvalley. A link will be sent once a ticket is purchased to select the pick-up location and time slot.

There is also a VIP Cooking Experience ticket for two available for $100 for Aspen Film members and $125 for non-members. This option only includes the list of ingredients for the baked Indian Biryani, the recipe for the Laws Whiskey cocktail and the one-hour cooking demonstration with Chef Biju.

Following the cooking demonstration, attendees will download or stream the film THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY via the platform of their choosing (Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Google Play, Vudu or iTunes). The film will not be shown on the Aspen Film Eventive platform.

 

ABOUT THE CHEF
Chef Biju Thomas is a professional chef known for light, simple dishes bursting with bold flavors. He has designed the menus of many successful restaurants in Denver and Boulder, Colorado and has launched his own restaurant, Biju’s Little Curry Shop, in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood.

In 2009, Chef Biju teamed up with sports physiologist Dr. Allen Lim to improve the everyday diets and performance nutrition of professional cyclists and their teams. In the years since, Chef Biju has cooked for dozens of elite professional cyclists, teaching them the craft of cooking. His Feed Zone series of books with Lim, The Feed Zone Cookbook and Feed Zone Portables, feature 225 easy, healthy recipes and snack ideas for an active lifestyle.

Biju has been a chef for pro cycling teams and coordinated food for one of the sport’s biggest races, the Tour of California. Biju has also been the chef for the Dempsey/Del Piero Racing, a Grand-Am and Le Mans motorsports team. He also contributes recipes to Skratch Labs, Omega Juicers, and Map My Fitness.

 

ABOUT THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY:
Starring Academy Award® winner Helen Mirren, produced by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and Juliet Blake, and directed by Lasse Hallström, this uplifting story bursts with flavor, passion and heart. When the chilly chef proprietress of a Michelin-starred French restaurant in southern France (Mirren) gets wind of a culinary immigrant opening an Indian restaurant just 100 feet from her own, her icy protests escalate to all-out war between the two establishments. It’s a celebration of triumph over exile as these two worlds collide and one young man tries to find the comfort of home in every pot — wherever he may be.