Dining for Dollars

You know me, I never object to dining for charity. If I can write a check, be fed, and support a good cause, I'm usually all over it. And it's been busy in the past few weekends.

Last Saturday, I attended a lovely dinner party in a private home where the hosts donated their time, home, and not inconsiderable culinary talent and charged guests a fee for donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. What a great idea! It was a lovely evening in charming company with people I like, and I learned how to make traditional Vietnamese spring rolls as a bonus.

Opera opening weekend! With conflicts for last Friday's opener of The Pearl Fishers, a friend and I changed our tickets to Sunday and swapped the opening dinner for the opening brunch. Brunch is hard for me before opera since I usually drink too much champagne and end up napping through the second act. But for opening weekend, we made the sacrifice! And good food and wonderful company -- it was a small group so we really had a chance to have some nice conversations with fellow I/O supporters.

This past Friday, I was happy to attend Harvest, the second annual food and wine event benefiting Second Helpings. With a great turnout from most of Indy's top culinary professional and a vast array of terrific wines, Harvest was once again a huge success. Congratulations of Second Helpings and here's to another great year.

Upcoming? Well, I know I'll have to attend Kahn's Diamond in a Rough Sale, 6:30-9:00 p.m., Thursday, October 27 at the Montage. It's one of my favorite events of year and while it's not for charity, I'm sure I'll come away having just as generously "donated". Tickets are $20 in advance (Jim always feeds his customers well) available at Kahn's.