Chef Charlie Abowd greets patrons.
The 10th annual Celebrity Chef & Harvest Dinner, a benefit for The Greenhouse Project, takes place Nov. 12 at Cafe at Adele’s. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
An Angel Donor for the evening is also sought. The Angel Donor can be one person, several people or a business that provides the $5,000 seed that’s then matched during the evening by event patrons. The evening also features a live auction. On the roster so far are The Abowds Burner Mobile chauffeured progressive dinner, art donated by Artsy Fartsy Gallery and Jeffery Pace, a three-series rolfing session with Robin Graber and a golf package, details of which haven’t been finalized.
The dinner is one of three major fundraisers conducted by TGP each year. All proceeds continue the work of TGP, an educational facility located on campus at Carson High School providing agricultural education to students of all ages and abilities. Food grown on site is donated to various entities for distribution to the community’s food insecure.
This year, chef Charlie Abowd brings together the original crew that traveled in 2005 to cook at The James Beard House Restaurant in New York, in part to celebrate Cafe at Adele’s 40th anniversary and because there have been myriad requests that he do this.
James Beard was a famous food writer, cookbook author and educator, and it’s at the Beard House great chefs from around the world have cooked since its opening in 1986, as a center for culinary arts appreciation and education. To be invited to cook at the house is one of the highest honors that can be bestowed on a chef.
On this special evening, Charlie will be joined in Adele’s kitchen by Chef Tony Fish and Jayme Watts, co-owners of Sassafras Eclectic Food Joint; Jerry Mussad, owner of J’s Bistro and The Cracker Box Diner; Dan Burnham, Adele’s former sous chef and Michelle Palmer, former dessert chef, all bringing their talents to bear in recreating the same six-course, wine-paired meal that was presented in New York.
The dishes will feature locally sourced foods, with the original menu slightly adapted to ensure the freshest ingredients are used.
“Each course features locally and organically grown produce and meats in keeping with our commitment to farm-to-table and using the freshest ingredients,” Charlie said. “There will be slight tweaks to that menu to accommodate food availability, dictated by being on the West Coast as opposed to the East.”
Wines are donated by Southern Wine and Spirits.
Course sponsors are Lone Mountain Veterinary Hospital, Vidler Water, Nature’s Bakery, the D’Anneo Family and Tony and Margaret Sheedy, and Aspire and Hometown Health are half-course sponsors.
Seating for the Celebrity Chef & Harvest Dinner is limited. Tickets cost $200 each, available at Café at Adele’s, 1112 N. Carson St., Carson City. For reservations, call the restaurant at 775-882-3353. For information about being an Angel Donor or about the dinner, call TGP President Karen Abowd at 775-232-8626. To learn more about TGP, visit www.carsoncitygreenhouse.org.
