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Schell: Enjoy intimate dinner and help womens' gastronomic educations

Dinners raise scholarship funds for woman to enter educational programs to join the food, wine and hospitality industry.
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Summerdine in the vineyard at Terrafina Restaurant in 2014.

Join the amazing experience of Les Dames Summerdine on August 12 at 6:30 p.m.

This very special event includes dozens of restaurants, vineyards, gardens and cooking schools from Vancouver Island to Metro Vancouver to the Okanagan, that each has donated one table for a concurrent dinner party. You will be sitting down to dine on a unique wine-paired menu created by the donor restaurant and each restaurant is priced exactly the same at $79/seat.

The theme of the dinner party this year is Celebrating Our Roots in recognition of this year being the International Year of Soils.

Summerdine is organized by the BC Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, an international organization of woman who raise scholarship funds for woman to enter educational programs to join the food, wine and hospitality industry. I am a member of Les Dames and am proud to say that here in the Okanagan we have some former Les Dames scholarship recipients including Chef Jenna Pillon at Terrafina Restaurant and Raudz/micro Chef Evelynn Takoff (former Top Chef Canada participant) whom Les Dames helped send to culinary school.

Summerdine Okanagan line up:

In Kelowna, Dame Audrey Surrao of RauDZ Regional Table and Dame Marina Knutson of Spierhead Winery have come together again this year to create a picnic in Spierhead’s vineyard for four guests (sold out), while new Pilgrim & Pearl (sold out) has also donated a table for a lucky foursome.

Chef Grant de Montreuil will be creating a spectacular meal to serve in his culinary garden (10 tickets available) while in Summerland at LOCAL Lounge & Grille a table for eight is up for grabs on their gorgeous private lounge patio overlooking the lake.

Chef Mark Filatow of Waterfront Wines generously has offered up a kitchen table for four again this year and guests at Terrafina Restaurant’s table for eight will again be swept away with the magic of dining in the vineyard on a warm desert night.

The Terrace at Mission Hill Winery joined the fun this year with a glorious table for six (sold out) overlooking the vineyards.

How to choose from this incredible line up? Remember, you can buy as many tickets as you like and do not have to purchase the whole table for a group—these are communal tables offering a wonderfully unique, Okanagan food and wine experience.

All proceeds from the dinners and online auction will be donated to Les Dames d’Escoffier BC Chapter for scholarship and outreach funding, with 50/50 ticket proceeds going to the Green Tables initiatives we support, Project CHEF and Growing Chefs. The on-line auction for an Okanagan Get Away for Two goes live on July 29.

Please book a table and help us help women achieve their dreams and hopefully come back to join our thriving Okanagan food and wine industry.

Further details, restaurant list, menus and to purchase tickets: www.lesdames.ca.