An Earth to Table Dinner: You Gotta Eat It to Believe It!

I think everyone agrees that The Culinary Vegetable Institute (CVI) in Milan, Ohio, is one pretty darn special place. It's home to The Chef's Garden (which grows specialty produce for discriminating chefs all over the country), Veggie U (which supplies classroom garden kits to elementary classes), and Earth to Table Dinners. What are these dinners all about, you ask? If you've never been to one, you're in for a truly fantastic surprise!

Each month, CVI hosts a themed dinner featuring a nationally renowned guest chef. Some amazing past menus have included: Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is!

The concept of these dinners is to have the visiting chef come in and create a unique menu based around a theme. And the dinner is meant to be very interactive. In fact, guests are openly encouraged to come into the kitchen and watch, or better yet, help out.

"We have a three-minute rule," says owner Farmer Lee Jones. "If you're in the kitchen for more than three minutes, we put an apron on you and put you to work. The dinner is all about having fun; it's entertainment. We want people to feel like they are at home at The Culinary Vegetable Institute."

You can even sign up for their "Chef for a Day" experience, where you'll spend the whole day in their state-of-the-art kitchen alongside the hosting chef and help prepare their dinner for the evening. Upcoming dinners are as follows:

So pick a date...or two...or three...and sign up today! You're gonna love it. Absolutely no doubt about it.
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