Taste Renaissance returns, features a smorgasbord of locally sourced food

It’s definitely not a cheap date, but it’s guaranteed to be wholesome, healthful and completely delicious. Plus, excellent for the future of clean local food.

Taste Renaissance 2017 is the second annual fundraising dinner for Slow Foods Southwest Washington, a nonprofit launched in 2006 by local foodie Warren Neth. Slow Foods is all about replacing industrialized food and food systems with top-quality local food and farm-to-table food networks; among its major goals is supplying the local emergency food system with fresh fruit and inspiring “the next generation of youth food activists.” Neth likes to say he’s on a mission to change the way we eat.

One way of doing that is by pulling together a smorgasbord of top regional chefs, growers and producers for a spectacular meal made of the finest local ingredients — including cranberries, cave-aged cheeses, chestnuts, pastured meats and micro-milled heirloom polenta. The meal is set for Saturday at WareHouse ’23, 100 Columbia St. in Vancouver. Here’s an overview of the menu and the list of chefs giving it their all. Complete details can be found at TasteRenaissance.org.

Hors d’oeuvres: Brad Dodson of Picked Fish (Pacific County); Matt Hale of Skamania Lodge, Mark Lopez of Gather and Feast Farm; Earl Frederick of Clark College’s culinary faculty.

Salad: Tammy Leibfarth of Simply Thyme.

Vegetables: Alan Maniscalco of Rally Pizza.

Bread and butter: Bonnie Brasure of Bleu Door Bakery.

Entrees (beef, chicken and vegan options): Mychal Culver of WareHouse ’23.

Cheese course: Willapa Hills Creamery.

Dessert: Shan Wickham of Rally Pizza.

The evening begins at 5 p.m. with a local wine bar. The evening will include a silent auction and Italian folk music; you can even request a tableside serenade. A keynote speaker from Willapa Hills Creamery will reveal the secrets of aging cheese to perfection.

And here’s the damage: Tickets start at $95 for one person or $190 for two (couples also get wine). Farmers and nonprofit workers get a break: $45 per person. Just remember, it’s all on behalf of clean, green food in Southwest Washington’s future.