Chef's Dinner nourishes Schoharie flood relief

PHOTOGRAPHER: Peter R. Barber

Bob and Pat Wilcox of Westerlo, left, and Donna Grego of Guilderland Center, look at paintings up for sale in the silent auction at the Inaugural Bounty of the County Chef’s Dinner at the Carrot Barn in Schoharie Saturday. The event will benefit the

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The only guarantee at Saturday’s Bounty of the County Chef’s Dinner was six courses of food and a chance to help recovery efforts in Schoharie County from flooding in 2011.

Diners didn’t learn the menu of locally inspired dishes until they arrived at the Carrot Barn for the gala, which offered regular tickets for $125 and was anticipated to raise $50,000 for Schoharie Area Long Term Inc., the lead agency in the Schoharie Creek basin and surrounding area coordinating flood recovery efforts for people affected by tropical storms Irene and Lee.

In addition to raising money, the event was designed to focus on some of the area’s farms and food purveyors. Farms contributing to the dinner included Bohringer’s Fruit Farm, Mariaville Farms and Sunnycrest Orchards.

The roster of chefs for the evening was scheduled to include Dale Miller of Sperry’s in Saratoga Springs, Marla Ortega from Illium Cafe and Wine Bar in Troy and Chris Faraci of Carmen’s Cafe in Albany.

Before the 6 p.m. dinner was an hour-long reception, where people could bid on items in a silent auction, including paintings that were on display. There was also live music for the evening.

When people sat down for dinner, their tables were surrounded by tables of flowers.

The Bounty of the County market is open today, offering local produce and products on the lawn of the Lasell Hall in Schoharie from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. A country brunch will be held from 10 a.m. to noon for $12 per person and will offer local products.

Learn more about the SALT recovery efforts by going to www.saltrecovery.org or calling 702-5017.