Chefs for Children: Great food, good causes

Walt Churchill’s Market at 3320 Briarfield Blvd. in Monclova Township will hold its third annual Oyster Blast on Saturday from 1-4 p.m. Appropriate wines will be served with oysters — or grilled sausages, if you prefer.

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On the one hand, the food will be great. On the other hand, it is awfully expensive. But on the third hand, the money is going to good causes.

The event in question is called Chefs for Children, and let’s take the hands one at a time.

Hand No. 1: Great food. Some 20 top local restaurants and caterers will be dishing out samples of their best cuisine, running alphabetically from Artisanal Pastries through local child-and-adolescent psychiatrist Tim Valko. Three of the Mancy’s restaurants will be represented, both Bars (Bar 145 and Burger Bar 419), Sylvania’s Element 112, The Beirut, Georgio’s Café International, and many, many more.

And to expand your culinary horizons beyond the local, four celebrity chefs will also be cooking up their specialties: David Posey, chef de cuisine at the Michelin-starred Blackbird restaurant in Chicago; the James Beard Award-winning Celina Tio (who is becoming a local favorite for her many appearances here), owner and chef of Julian Restaurant in Kansas City; Sameh Wadi, co-owner of Saffron Restaurant of Minneapolis, which specializes in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine, and TV-chef Elizabeth Falkner of the new Corvo Bianco of the Upper West Side in New York.

Hand No. 2: The cost. It’s going to set you back a bit, no question. It’s going to set you back a full $1,000 for two (technically, you’re buying a sponsorship, not tickets to an event). And that is before you are tempted to buy works by local artists, dinners to the celebrity chef’s restaurants, vacations, and more at silent and live auctions.

Hand No. 3: The causes. The money you spend will go to the Arts Commission and to several programs for children at ProMedica Toledo Children’s Hospital.

The event is Thursday, beginning at 6 p.m., and will be held at a private residence in Perrysburg. For reservations and more information, call 419-291-5756.

Oysters ‘n’ wine

Walt Churchill’s Market at 3320 Briarfield Blvd. in Monclova Township will hold its third annual Oyster Blast on Saturday from 1-4 p.m. Appropriate wines will be served with oysters — or grilled sausages, if you prefer.

Does anything go better with a fresh oyster on the half-shell than a crisp white wine?

Some may argue that, yes, beer does. But the folks at Walt Churchill’s Market at 3320 Briarfield Blvd. in Monclova Township are all about the white wine-oysters pairing.

You can try it for yourself on Saturday from 1-4 p.m. as the store holds its third annual Oyster Blast. Appropriate wines will be served with oysters — or grilled sausages if oysters skeeve you out.

Six oysters will run you $12, and a grilled sausage will go for $5. The wines will be $5 per glass, and are also available by the bottle. The event will be held on the store’s patio, and reservations are not required.

Seafood dinner

Usually, it is an Earth-to-Table Dinner.

But on Sept. 14, it will be more of an Ocean-to-Table dinner. Or perhaps Lake-to-Table.

Every month, the Culinary Vegetable Institute in Milan, Ohio, holds a dinner featuring a guest chef making a meal straight from the land. But the next event will change things up, with a meal featuring seafood from guest chef Regan Reik.

Mr. Reik is chef at Pier W in Cleveland, home of the iced seafood tower, fresh lake perch, seared scallops, and bouillabaisse that the restaurant itself calls famous.

The menu for the meal has not yet been unveiled, but you can bet it will involve fishy things and other swimming stuff.

The dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. at the institute, which is in Milan at 12304 State Rt. 13 (about a half-mile from the intersection of Route 250; the sign is understated, so don’t drive too fast or you will miss it). The cost is $75, plus tax and tip. Reservations are required at 419-499-7500.

Going locavore

The food is fresh, the beers and wines are local, and the food will be prepared by area chefs.

And if you like plants, there will be plenty of them, too.

Toledo GROWs will have a Harvest Market Dinner benefit on Sept. 19 from 6 p.m.-10 p.m. at Toledo Botanical Garden, 5403 Elmer Dr. Live music will be part of the evening, as well.

And if you have been wondering, as I have been, what GROWs stands for, it turns out to be an acronym for Gardens Revitalize Our World. You learn something new every day.

Tickets are $75, four for $200 or a table of 10 for $500 (which is not a savings over the per-ticket price for four, but everyone can all sit together at the same table). To order tickets, go to www.toledogarden.org and click on “events.”

Items for Morsels must be submitted up to two weeks before an event to food@theblade.com.