Moon Dinner Series: "Our Miraculous Moon"

Moon Dinner Series

An annual dinner series celebrating the scientific wonder of our moon, sun, universe and beyond. Enjoy a chef curated dinner, wine pairings, and discussion with astronomy and planetary science educators from UC Santa Cruz followed by a telescope viewing.

Dinner #3: "Our Miraculous Moon"

Date: Sunday, October 5, 2025

Time: 7:00 - 9:30 pm

Location: Chaminade Resort & Spa

Pricing: $93.07 per person (including gratuity & tax)

Plated Menu: 

(Menu subject to change. Please note dietary restrictions in 'Special Requirements' as you check out.)

Course One

Miso Black Cod | Local Catch | Pickled Shallots | Shiso Leaf | Mise Glaze

Wine Pairing: Bargetto Pinot Grigio

Course Two

Braised Wagyu Short Rib | Celery Root Puree | Micro Mirepoix | Truffle Gremolata | Red Wine Jus

Wine Pairing: Bargetto Merlot

Course Three

Honey Cake | Chaminade Honey & Honeycomb | Caramel Tuille

Wine Pairing: Bargetto Chaucer's Spiced Mead

Program: UC Santa Cruz educators Raja GuhaThakurta and Pranvera Hyseni will discuss their research while sharing samples of moon rocks and meteorites, followed by an open conversation, Q&A and telescope viewing.

Presenter Bios:

• Raja GuhaThakurta has been a professor and astronomer at the University of California Santa Cruz for nearly three decades and the department chair for the last three years. He received a Masters and PhD in Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University and a B.Sc. in Physics at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, India. He did research at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Princeton University, and Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD before coming to UCSC. GuhaThakurta's main research topic is galaxies – how they form and evolve into the dramatic structures we see today. His research group also studies the chemical enrichment and star formation history of galaxies. He is privileged to use (among others) the 10-meter Keck telescopes, Subaru telescope, and Canada-France-Hawai`i telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai`i, the Lick Observatory telescopes on Mount Hamilton in California, and the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope.
• Pranvera Hyseni is a PhD student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at UC Santa Cruz. Renowned for her pioneering work in advocating for STEM education worldwide, she is the founder of Astronomy Outreach of Kosovo (AOK) - the largest non-profit outreach program in Eastern Europe. AOK impacts the lives of over 25,000 people annually, and her exceptional contributions to the field have earned her recognition as one of the five most influential women in the Republic of Kosovo. Hyseni's PhD research involves studies of organic compositions of hydrated asteroids and cometary surfaces through advanced spectroscopy techniques and meteorite samples in the lab.