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The wife of a friend from work, works for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center had a pair of extra tickets to their yearly Chefs Dinner benefit.  Of course Jamie and I jumped at the chance to dress up and eat fantastic food along with fantastic local wines.  So Sunday night we get spiffed up, drop the bambino off at my sister-in-laws house, and head off for the big city.  On arrival we’re given wine glasses and ushered into the wine tasting fray.  Six local wineries have tables showcasing their best wines.  A “Wine Pull” was set up in the middle.  This is a sort of lotto system.  Put $25 in and grab a wrapped bottle off the table.  All the bottles are worth at least $25, with a few of them valued at well over $250.  No jackpot for us, but what we did get is a nice red wine.

Our table had 11 people from the 300 people attending.  Everyone was nice, next to us was a programmer and his wife from Fred Hutch.  They were quite traveled and we had a great time exchanging vacation tips with them.  One of the vintners from the dinner was also at our table along with his wife.  My co-worker finally introduced me to his wife (I thought maybe he made her up) and we had a good time talking iPhones and all the bad things I could think of about her husband.

Dinner is a 6 course extravaganza.  Each course was prepared by a local premier chef.  When I saw the first course I thought Jamie was doomed to a hunt and peck night to find edible items.  The first course was raw halibut and Jamie is known far and wide for her dislike of seafood.  Much to my surprise (and im sure anyone who knows her) she ate most of it!  She was quite proud of herself.  The 5 glasses of wine before dinner may have given her some liquid courage however.  Each course was paired with a different wine.   Before dinner had even started there were 4 wine glasses and a water goblet for each person at our table.  That makes for a very busy place setting.   The subsequent courses were much more in Jamies style.   A stinging nettle soup, fried rabbit, spare ribs, and a second seafood course of lightly warmed tuna.  Yes, she even ate the tuna without much comment.

Before dessert, there was a live auction for various experiences.  John Curly of Evening Magazine fame was the auctioneer, and a very enthusiastic one as well.  He does one or two auctions a week for various charities and businesses in Washington, because of this he is quite good at it.  I very much wish money grew on trees around here.  A particular auction was for a 12 person dinner out in Anacortes on a bluff overlooking the sound.   A tented dining area with an entertaining chef and plenty of fine wine.  It ended up going for over $6000.  Some other items were a complete package of all the wine served and tasted at the dinner, an 8 person meal at a house on Lake Union served by one of the chefs at the benefit, a collection of 8 champagne magnums, weightless zero-g flight on a NASA training airplane.

All-in-all it was a great evening.  The food was amazing and Jamie left with a list of restaurants that im on the hook for taking her out to in the coming months.  Adult conversation was wonderful. None of it revolved around spit-up or diapers or the best stain fighting detergent for baby poo.  It also doesn’t hurt to be dressed up and looking good.  Jamie bought a new dress just for the night and hopefully will be wearing it again soon. She looked very pretty.