National Road Heritage Corridor plans annual Frontier Dinner
The National Road Heritage Corridor once again will offer an adventure in dining through its fourth annual Frontier Dinner. The event is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, at Christian Klay Winery, located just off the National Road (Route 40) in Chalk Hill and will feature foods such as duck, pheasant and venison. “Every year our attendance goes up,” said Donna Holdorf, executive director of the heritage corridor. “People have a good time and it’s our only fundraiser of the year, so it’s important to us.”
The menu, prepared annually by Uniontown chef Joe Carei, takes a twist this year by featuring local foods.
“Joe Carei worked hard to create a menu with local produce, game and local cheese produced in Pennsylvania,” said Holdorf.
“We even have local eggs and cream for cr?me brulee from Jackson Farms and bread from grains grown locally and milled at St. Vincent’s.”
Holdorf said, “Even the faint of heart have tried and liked the foods that are prepared. Joe is including manicotti this year, so even people who would not think of eating game will find plenty in the menu.”
The menu begins with a cheese display and vegetable crudit?s that includes cheese from Pipe Dream Fromage Farm and a variety of breads from Friendship Farms in Westmoreland County. There is duck perogi, which are dumplings filled with Greenfield Farm Duck from Fayette County.
The soup is corn bisque made with Duda Farms’ sweet corn from Fayette County. There is a salad of tender greens from Matthews Farm in Washington County.
The main courses include pheasant from Four Seasons Farm in Butler County, roast venison, which is Pennsylvania white tail, Pennsylvania brook trout with heirloom tomato gazpacho and manicotti stuffed with Emerald Farm Cheese from Scenery Hill in Washington County.
The main course is accompanied by herbed fingerling potatoes and fire-grilled vegetables from Laurel Vista Farms in Somerset County.
Dessert includes a berry cobbler with fruit from Sand Hill Berry Farm in Westmoreland County and cr?me brulee that features Jackson Farms’ fresh cream from Fayette County.
There also are wine selections from Christian Klay Winery as well as beer. Participants can sample Boyd and Blair’s vodka from Pittsburgh and a cigar from Tobacco World.
Local guitarist Fred Adams will provide music during dinner and around a bonfire after dinner. Holdorf said other people have brought their guitars in the past and also performed.
“People love it,” said Holdorf. “You can come in your jeans and sneakers. We tell people not to dress up. It gets chilly in the evening.” There also will be a silent auction with items that include a Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers basket with two game tickets, Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins basket including two game tickets, a Pitt Panthers/WVU Mountaineers rivalry basket that includes two tickets for a Pitt home game and two tickets for a WVU home game, a “lottery tree” provided by Uniontown Mall, a play day at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa in Farmington, and a golf package for a foursome at the Links at Nemacolin.
The dinner benefits the National Road Heritage Corridor, designated a state heritage park in 1994, which tells the story of the National Road while seeking to assist economic growth through heritage tourism. The National Road is America’s first federal highway and runs through Pennsylvania in Somerset, Fayette and Washington counties, much of it along present-day Route 40.
In its heyday, the National Road brought thousands of pioneers westward in Conestoga wagons, stagecoaches and by horseback. In later days, the road lost its importance to the coming of the railroad but became popular once again with the invention of the automobile. In 2002, the federal government named it an All-American Road.
Advanced registration is required for the Frontier Dinner and due Aug. 20.
To buy tickets, visit online at www.nationalroadpa.org or call 724-437-9877.