MCC McHenry County Culinary Dinning Series Begins May 8

McHenry County College will kick off its first-ever monthly McHenry County Culinary Celebrity Dining Series with Dying to Dine: Mystery Dinner Theatre at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, May 8. The location for this unique dinning experience is the Woodstock North High School, 3000 Raffel Road in Woodstock.

Dying to Dine will feature a four-course mystery dining experience hosted by Chef Thomas Kaltenecker, CHE, MCFE, executive chef and instructor of culinary management at MCC and Bonnie Gabel, advisor of the award-winning MCC Forensics Team. The meal will be prepared and served under the direction of Kaltenecker and culinary management program instructors, including Chef Tina Drzal, baking and pastry instructor. The event will be held in conjunction with MCC’s new Hospitality Club.

MCC culinary students will serve the food and forensics team members will perform a murder mystery dinner theatre. Specifically, forensics team performers will be servers who are aspiring actors, and the theatre’s plot will center on a card that contains Martin Scorsese’s personal number that the group of aspiring actors covet and want to possess.

The culinary dining series offers a capstone experience for MCC culinary students who will provide service at these events and local chefs and restaurateurs will have an opportunity to showcase their businesses, techniques and talents to a paying audience.

MCC launched its first culinary management program last August, offering certificate programs in Chef’s Assistant and Baking and Pastry Assistant. Future dining series events will give opportunities for local restaurant chefs, bakers, pastry chefs and future MCC culinary alumni to attend or apply as guest chefs.

“With this event series, culinary students gain real-world experience, as they will make the hors d’ouevres, dinner and dessert, along with set up the dining room and serve the food. Kaltenecker said. The menu includes a trio of passed hors d’oeuvres of fried tiger shrimp wrapped in homemade Cajun pasta, an appetizer of blackened red snapper with golden pepper sauce and bibb salad, carrot and ginger soup, an entrée of parmesan crusted lamb chops with sautéed root vegetables, potato dauphinoise and minted pea sauce, followed by a dessert featuring vanilla bean and white chocolate génoise with pomegranate gelée and blood orange cream. Conscious Cup will pair two coffees and a special tea for this dessert.

The dining series is one of four MCC projects selected at the start of spring semester to receive funding from MCC’s new Innovation Teaching Grant. The dining series received $4,500 toward the start-up cost and purchase of necessary equipment for the event operation.

Admission for the murder mystery theatre event is $45 in advance or $55 at the door. Proceeds from the series will be used for scholarships and/or reinvested into MCC’s Culinary Management program for specific projects, including the series.

Reservations may be made using a credit card by calling the MCC Registration Office at (815) 455-8588 and reference course ID: NCM S01 004. MCC students with a student ID and PIN may register online. To register in person with cash, check or credit card, stop by the MCC Registration Office, Room A258.