Submitted Content

First Dinner for a Cause benefits Northern Illinois Food Bank

Posted November 19, 2012 12:04 pm

Jerry Pruitt and Michael Pruitt present a check to Tiffany King, development officer for special events for the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Courtesy of Kathryn Rudolph Photography

Submitted by Michael Pruitt

The Vine Martini & Wine Bar of Grayslake recently held its first Dinner for the Cause event to benefit Northern Illinois Food Bank. With more than 100 guests, the event raised $10,000 to feed families in Illinois.

According to owner Michael Pruitt, the crowd was a little nervous at first, especially when seeing the hand-drawn menus by Brendon Egan on each table. The Vine kept the menu a secret and throughout the night slowly revealed each piece.

The menu included butternut squash soup; wild mushrooms with bacon garlic, spinach purée and bacon dust; seared bay scallops with a popcorn purée; beat salad with white truffle oil, goat cheese and carbonated Clementines; smoked pork confit; white chocolate and coco butter truffle; the “mBerry” with a doughnut soup.

“If I could describe the night it was a Whimsical Orchestra conducted by (chef) Chris Jones that left the crowd wanting more,” Pruitt said.

“Between Chris Jones, myself, my Head Chef Steven Anderson, and my Front of the House Manager Samantha Hinners, this was the biggest service that every single one of us has ever done, and we were more than happy with how it was pulled off. “

“I was completely blown away by the heart and soul that went into the preparation and flawless execution,” said Tiffany King, development officer for special events for the Northern Illinois Food Bank, “but more so from learning that the staff had been preparing for countless hours with Chef Chris Jones and Mike Pruitt, and had donated their time to make the event happen.

“The food bank provided over 5 million meals for our hungry neighbors in Lake County last year. What we do would not be possible without the help of people like Mike, Chris and their teams,” King said.

“For every dollar donated, we can provide six meals, which means this first time event was able to provide 60,000 meals to their hungry neighbors. We were honored to be chosen as the beneficiary and look forward to working with Michael, The Vine and hopefully Chris Jones again in the future.”

The Vine would like to thank the GLMV Jaycees, Entwined of Grayslake, MOTO of Chicago, Heritage Wines, mBerry, US Foods and Kathryn Rudolph Photography.

Ÿ To submit Your news, send it to nbrcalendar@dailyherald.com with the subject “Your news.”

A table of diners enjoys the Dinner for the Cause event to benefit Northern Illinois Food Bank at The Vine Martini & Wine Bar in Grayslake. Courtesy of Kathryn Rudolph Photography

The final course of the Dinner for the Cause included a doughnut soup topped with sugar free doughnuts and nitro shattered raspberries. Courtesy of Kathryn Rudolph Photography

Beat salad with white truffle oil, goat cheese and carbonated Clementines. The carbonated fruit was like eating orange soda, according to Michael Pruitt, owner of The Vine. Courtesy of Kathryn Rudolph Photography

Chef Chris Jones and Michael Pruitt, owner of The Vine, worked with Tiffany King of the Northern Illinois Food Bank to plan the Dinner for the Cause. Courtesy of Kathryn Rudolph Photography

Mike Pruitt thanks his kitchen staff for their hard work to make the Dinner for the Cause possible. Courtesy of Kathryn Rudolph Photography

Omar Larson and Chris Jones plate smoked pork confit with parsnip purée, an apple peel salad and an apple cider honey vinaigrette at the Dinner for the Cause. Courtesy of Kathryn Rudolph Photography

Article Comments

Article Categories
Submitted Content

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.