For 40 years, the Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals (SICSA) has been dedicated to place adoptable dogs and cats in loving homes. They have over 1,400 dog and cat adoptions annually and spay and neuter over 2,000 dogs and cats each year for the community. As a nonprofit, they rely on donations from the community, hosting many fundraisers like their Red Dog Auction, Holiday Bazaar and their annual pet calendar.

But this year, they’ve planned a brand new event for Friday, Sept 12th and they’ve enlisted the help of James Beard award-winning chef and restaurateur Anne Kearney of Rue Dumaine and Chef Matt Hayden from Scratch Event Services to pull off The Cat’s Meow. Guest will arrive at Benham’s Grove in Centerville to enjoy a 1920’s Creole style garden party featuring a shrimp boil like Dayton’s never seen.

Here are the event details:

5:30-7:00 – Era-specific appetizers and spirits, dancing to the beat of Dave Greer and the Classic Jazz Stompers, a themed photo booth, and an exciting silent auction made up of unique and enticing packages. If this lineup doesn’t keep you entertained while you visit with 249 other guests and enjoy our garden party Creole ambiance, we need to check your vitals!

7:15-8:30 – A shrimp and Andouille sausage boil, Creole-style. What’s that mean? It means we boil up those bad boys with corn, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, Chef Anne’s special spice mix and lots of love! We then serve it up piping hot to your table family style, with a side of Chef Anne’s Grandma’s famous cornbread. Not a fan of shrimp or meat, no worries. We also have a red beans and rice dish which will be sure to please. We will round out the main course with homemade pickled vegetables made just for you! Then we finish it up with banana-pecan trifle garnished with pecan praline while you bid on our five special live auction items. You will swear you have been transported back to a 1920 Louisiana back yard.

8:30-10:30 – The party doesn’t stop just because the bidding has! Dave Greer and the Classic Jazz Stompers will turn up the heat and get you going on the dance floor. Not into the swing, we dare you not to do some chair dancing, toe tapping or finger snapping to these cool cats!

Individual Tickets are $150 each and tables of 8 are $1200. Tickets may be purchased on the SICSA website.

DMM Ticket Contest:
We’ve got a pair of tickets for a lucky winner who’d like to enjoy this Creole Garden Party. To be entered in the drawing you must like & share this story and fill out the entry form below. Congratulations to Theresa from Huber Heights, who will be our guest at The Cats Meow!

Each Guest Received Souvenir Glasses

Did you miss it? Endless wine tasting and all the food samplings you wanted were featured at the 2013 Fleurs et Vin Festival held at Carillon Park on May 19th. The Big Ragu was on hand with Dayton Most Metro’s staff, greeting the massive crowds and sample the various offerings. It was a Food Adventure paradise in the heart of Dayton, and a must eat on our list of events.

If you were not able to make it to this annual benefit for the AIDS Resource Center Ohio, then check out our recap, below.

Here’s the Skinny:

— FLEURS ET VIN is Dayton’s Premier Wine and Gourmet Food Festival, typically held each year on a Sunday in May from 1-4pm under the tents at Carrillon Historical Park. It is an all-you-want tasting event with a loyal following.

— ALL of the food and wine was donated by locally owned restaurants, allowing 100% of the proceeds to benefit AIDS Resource Center of Dayton. A Food Adventure with a cause

— Admission price allowed you access to over 400 wines from around the world and taste menu samples from 20 local restaurants, along with a Belgian Beer Garden area !

— Live and Silent Auction areas allowed even more funds to be raised for this worthy cause that focuses of prevention and education about AIDS, along with service programs that help those in need with HIV/AIDS.

— Live music filled the air and added to the warm ambiance.

With so many good wines and so much good food, below are our picks for the best of the best from this spectacular event!

Crab Rangoon from Thai 9. Our Favorite Rangoon in Dayton.

OUR FAVORITES (THE FOOD):

Thai 9’s Crab Rangoon and Chicken with Rice: In our opinion, the best crab rangoon in the Dayton area were these incredible samples from Thai9. Stuffed full and deep, and served with a sweet side of Thai sauce, we found ourselves returning to this line often. The Thai chicken dish was also incredible at this station. It was a Thai pepper chicken, served in a brown, curry house sauce over a bed of white rice. We told them we loved it, but our mouths were so full that they couldn’t understand us.

The Dock’s Crab Cakes: Slowly seared on their portable flat top grill, these were flavorful, hand-packed circles of love. The sauce that topped the crab cakes was the secret ingredient that kept us coming back for more. The staff of The Dock probably wanted to file a restraining order against us for hanging out by their grill as much as we did. We could not resist seconds of these scrumptious bites of crab heaven.

Hawthorn Grill’s Sorbet and Strawberry ShortCake: All of the desserts at Hawthorn Grill are homemade by Chef Candace and her staff. Her sorbet was a perfect, refreshing break during this hot event. The bite size piece of cake, topped with a strawberry sauce also hit the spot.

Scratch Catering’s Beef Brisket and Carmelized Onion Bruschetta: When doesn’t Chef Matt Hayden please the hungry crowds? This delicious, slow-cooked sampling was just as pleasing to the eye, as it was to our taste buds. The hits from Scratch Catering just keep on coming ….

OUR FAVORITES (THE WINES):

Canella Blood Orange Mimosa: Talk about refreshing! This tasty, bottled mimosa was the perfect drink, on this hot day. The server at this booth had to be tired of us by the end of the event. Probably our favorite offering from the Vintage Wine Distributor. This Italian wine cocktail is made from grape wine and the juice and pulp of blood oranges from Sicily.

Heron Chardonnay: A crisp, white wine made from 22 year old grape vines. The winery is a female owned, family vineyard run by Laely Heron. One of the few American women who made wine in France, Heron’s products are also produced in California.

Spreitzer Riesling 101: This German Riesling comes from a winery owned by two brothers who have been honing their craft since 1997. It was a cold, refreshing sip of sparkling goodness in the warm weather.

The Belgian Beer Garden: Although this was a wine festival, Heidelberg Distributing distracted us with some great beer selections. Food Adventures enjoyed a couple of Stella Artois beers in a souvenir pint. The Big Ragu went for some Hoegaarden beer and an Ommegang Witte Beer.

All in all, this is Dayton’s “Wine me and dine me” Festival. We loved being a part of a wonderful event, that supported a locally based AIDS charity. Good local food and world class wines, what more could one ask for? So let us end this Food Adventure, by raising our glass with a toast.. “Whether you love Merlot or Chardonnay, here’s to seeing you at Fleurs et Vin, next May!!”

For more wine, and no whine, visit Food Adventures on Facebook and “like” them by clicking HERE !

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