Chefs Mark Estee and Charlie Abowd with Karen Abowd in 2015.
Final touches for the annual Celebrity Chef & Harvest Dinner are underway, and once again, Chef Mark Estee and Chef Charlie Abowd and their staff are joining forces to present an incredible evening of six divine courses paired with patrons’ choice of specialty beer or wine, while raising money to help with the continued operations costs of The Greenhouse Project in Carson City. The event is taking place on Monday, Nov. 9.
“This is one of two major fund-raisers for The Greenhouse that we host each year,” said Karen Abowd, TGP president, who with her husband, Charlie, co-owns Cafe at Adele’s where the dinner takes place. “Proceeds from the dinner help us meet operations costs of The Greenhouse, located on Carson High school’s campus, and whose purpose it is to foster agriculture education, while providing fresh veggies not only for the school’s culinary class, but also for those in need in our community.”
Charlie and Adele’s staff, working with Estee and his staff from Campo, Reno and now Provisions, his recently opened store and restaurant, a menu featuring locally sourced meats and produce, have been created in order to provide the ultimate dining experience.
“We are working with such local growers as Glorious Garlic Farm and Bentley Ranch, Minden,” Charlie said. “I love the collaboration that happens not only during the menu planning, but in the execution.”
As Estee has grown his business, which also now includes two Burger Me! locations in Truckee, Calif., he still finds time to give to the cause.
“I continue to collaborate and cook for this Harvest Dinner because Charlie and Karen can’t get rid of me,” Estee said. “It is a fun night in the kitchen using foods that are locally grown and showcases (the work of The Greenhouse Project).”
One read through the evening’s menu illustrates the amount of care and time needed in creating the various dishes, and for the chefs, it’s just another day in the kitchen, but for an important cause, Estee said.
“In all our restaurants we cook like this every day, but not every day do we get to collaborate with such a great team,” he said. “This is really not about Charlie or myself, this is about helping TGP continue to grow and flourish.”
In addition to the fine food, wines and beers, the evening will include a raffle and an auction. The raffle will be for six wines from the Abowd’s personal cellar featuring Joseph Swans Wines, valued at $500.
Items for the auction are:
A South Philly Little Italy Night at Glorious Garlic Farm for four guests. The evening begins with Italian wine and beer samplings, while enjoying a tutorial on crafting Abruzzo Family Style gnocchi from scratch. Each guest will also receive enough garlic seed to plant one square yard of garlic, paired with an instructional pamphlet. The tutorial will be followed by a traditional, five-course Italian dinner. Value: $1,000.
A beer or wine paired dinner for eight at the home of Chef Charlie and Karen Abowd, on either a Sunday or Monday evening. Value: Priceless.
A Cabin Stay Package right on Lake Tahoe in Elk Point gated community in Zephyr Cove. Spend three days in a comfortable, charming, vintage and relaxing place, courtesy of Geoff Hall. Contact Hall at 775-883-5925 for date availability. Value: $2,000.
A $5,000 matching donor is still sought. Traditionally, either one person or a collective, put up the initial amount of $5,000 and dinner attendees match that.
“It gets very spirited and not a little competitive, which adds to the fun,” Karen said.
There are a limited number of tickets remaining, available for $200 each at Cafe at Adele’s 1112 N. Carson St. To reserve your tickets, call the restaurant at 775-882-3353 and advise whether a beer or wine pairing is your preference. For more information, contact Karen at 775-232-8626 or email karenabowd@hotmail.com . To learn more about The Greenhouse Project, visit www.carsoncitygreenhouse.org.
