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Kirkwood to Host Chef Basil’s Scholarship Celebration Dinner

By October 9, 2018October 26th, 2018No Comments

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (October 8, 2018)–The Hotel at Kirkwood Center will host a special scholarship dinner in memory of Chef Basil Hadjis on Thursday, October 11.

Chef Basil opened the Vernon Inn, also known as The Greek Place, in 1976. He was a well-known restaurateur in the Cedar Rapids community for over thirty-six years before passing away suddenly in December of 2017. Soon after, the Hadjis family established a Culinary Arts Scholarship with Kirkwood Community College to honor Basil’s passion for culinary arts.

The family’s goal is to raise $50,000 to provide one tuition-free semester each year in perpetuity to the scholarship winner. Chef Basil’s dinner will help generate funds for the scholarship, and has sold out at 400 guests.

“It’s a great testament to the kind of person Basil was,” said Kirkwood Hospitality Arts Department Chair David Horsfield. “Having 400 locals on hand to celebrate such a well-respected member of our community is really going to be special.”

The dinner will include various hors d’oeuvres, a saganaki station, and five chef stations featuring a different Greek or Mediterranean specialty. The five professional chefs, four of which are Kirkwood alumni, will work alongside current Kirkwood culinary students at each station to prepare the evening’s entrees.

“The celebration also serves as a great learning experience for current culinary students, which is exactly the kind of educational interaction the Hadjis family is hoping to further inspire,” said Horsfield.

A cocktail hour will kick-off the celebration at 6 p.m. Wine samples will be available throughout the evening, as well as a cash bar. Live music will be provided by Young the Lion and Drew Hurn.

Visit www.chefbasils.com for more information about Chef Basil and his memorial Scholarship Celebration.

*****EVENT*****

What: Chef Basil’s Scholarship Celebration Dinner
When: Thursday, October 11, from 6 – 9 p.m.
Where: The Hotel at Kirkwood Center
Tickets: SOLD OUT