Volterra's Michelle Quisenberry is a seasoned pro at SIFF's opening night

Excerpt from Nancy Leson's blog, All You Can Eat

Michelle Quisenberry is a restaurateur who never misses an opportunity to promote Volterra, her Seattle restaurant whose signature Fennel Salt has found its ways into the hands of everyone, including "Grey's Anatomy's" Chandra Wilson (pictured below right , with Quisenberry).

Last week, Quisenberry and her husband, chef Don Curtiss, did it again.

As presenting sponsors of the Seattle International Film Festival, Signora Fennel Salt got up on stage at the opening event at McCaw Hall, and as part of her welcome did what she calls "an Oprah-style giveaway." Under 100 seats were jars of Fennel Salt with a single "lucky box" containing a season pass to Volterra's 2009 "Dinner and a Movie" series. The series, featuring food-focused films, will kick off next January with that foodie classic "Babette's Feast."

That feast is set to be screened at Volterra's special-events facility, the Drawing Room, and events surrounding the film series will raise approximately $20,000 for SIFF, says Quisenberry. What's more, in an effort to make certain SIFF moviegoers didn't leave the (expensive) opening extravaganza empty-handed, volunteers passed out approximately 3,000 jars of Fennel Salt as door prizes for departing guests — some $60,000 worth, produced in Ballard over the past few weeks.

For insider info on SIFF, check out Seattle Times movie critic Moira McDonald's tips, and the Seattle Times film festival blog, at www.seattletimes.com/festivalblog.