At the end of a long ski day on Beaver Creek Mountain, have you ever limped down the cat tracks and glanced over at Allie's Cabin, wishing you could just slide in for a quaint dinner on the mountain? Now's your chance! On June 22, Allie's Cabin is hosting a Chef Dinner to support the expansion of Fresh Approach into all Eagle County Schools.
Chef Kirk Weems hates the idea of any kids eating fried, processed foods in their school lunchrooms. That's why the executive chef at Allie's Cabin in Beaver Creek immediately agreed to support Fresh Approach to get healthier, fresh-cooked meals into Eagle County schools. The fruit of his labor? Weems is excited because he and many of his staff have children in the school district, and they are eager to help expand the program from just the elementary schools to include the middle and high schools next year.
What's cooking?
Weems will serve 70 guests at the Allie's Cabin restaurant located in the spectacular aspen grove between Assay and Hay Meadow runs on Beaver Creek Mountain. The four-course menu is a gourmet upscale twist on lunch line fare. The dishes include an appetizer shrimp and brie pizza with pepper-peach chutney and fresh basil on naan bread, a side of lobster macaroni and cheese with Vermont cheddar and brandy cream sauce, a panko-crusted halibut for the main course and a double chocolate cupcake to end the delectable meal. And, as icing on the cake, the dinner price of $75 includes cocktails and paired wine selections donated by Lulu B Wines.
Weems and his crew at Allie's Cabin are among the many local residents who are stepping up to help raise funds to expand the scratch-cooking program to all schools in the district. This event is also co-sponsored by Alpine Banks and the Vail Daily. The funds raised will help to cover the "soup to nuts" - buying fresh produce, whole grains and better meats and hiring and training extra staff at 14 schools to prepare that food. All elementary schools have implemented Fresh Approach thus far, and the goal is to expand it to middle and high schools in the 2012-13 school year. And for peanuts on the dollar, students get to eat a hot healthy lunch at school for $3, the cheapest meal in town.
If you want to see the Fresh Approach program continue, now is the time to have your cake and eat it too. The program needs about $5,000 more to match the $50,000 Walton Family Foundation grant awarded in 2011.
In a nutshell, seats are limited. To buy tickets to the June 22 event, visit http://freshaproach.giveo.com. If you want to be a cool cucumber, purchase tickets by Tuesday and a special bonus gift of a membership into the Fresh Approach Club (valued at $125) will be yours. For more information on the Fresh Approach Club, visit www.eagleschools.net/fre
shapproach/club.html.
Holly Woods is the outgoing director of development for Eagle County Schools and will be attending the Allie's Cabin Dinner along with other Fresh Approach volunteers.
