Dinner with Bayless (and Goats) on the Farm

Naturally, you think of mole, tamales and vegetables from the garden when you think of Rick Bayless. But the chef and restaurateur is also a fan of local goat cheese, which is why he’s partnering with Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery in Champaign to do a fundraising dinner there October 6.

Prairie Fruits Farm is the state’s first farmstead goat creamery (which means they raise the goats, milk them, and then use that milk to make cheese all in one place). It also has an organic fruit orchard. The dinner will raise funds for the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, which tackles the widespread issue of childhood hunger.

The afternoon starts at 2 p.m. with a cooking demonstration and cookbook signing, followed by a multi-course local-food, Mexican-inspired dinner at 4 p.m. Tickets for the 25-person cooking demonstration are $250 per person* and tickets to the dinner (65 person capacity) are $500 per person*. The ticket price of the benefit dinner includes accompanying wines and a tour of the farm. I did call them, just to make sure this wasn’t a typo. It’s essentially $750 per person to attend both the demo and the dinner. The rationale for the high price is that it’s a relatively small, intimate group (and most of it is tax deductible, see below).

To purchase tickets to attend this special farm and food experience, visit: http://www.showclix.com/event/3776046.

*$150 per ticket from the cooking demonstration and $350 per ticket from the dinner is tax deductible.