Donatello’s Italian Restaurant, located at 9 W. Main St. in Carmel, is hosting its third annual fundraiser for Chaucie’s Place, a Hamilton County-based non-profit that prevents child sex abuse and suicide.
This year, the wine-pairing dinner has the theme of “Blast from the Past” and will feature recipes from Chef Patrick Aasen’s 40 years of cooking Italian food in the Indianapolis area.
Aasen began his career at The Italian Village in the late 1970s and was the head chef or owner at many memorable places including Rudy & Rosa’s, Viaveneto’s, Arturo’s and now Donatello’s.
The six-course dinner will take place at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 4. Tickets are $110, which includes all wine, food, gratuity and a donation to Chaucie’s Place.
Tickets can be purchased by calling 317-564-4790 or online at this link.
At the event, guests are encouraged to dress “retro” if they’d like, with the theme of 1950s/60s inspired attire.
The appetizer hour will feature “Mad Men” inspired cocktails during the appetizer hour, such as Gimlets, Old Fashioneds, Mai Tais and Blue Hawaiians. There will be classic appetizers such as fried carrots and toasted ravioli, one of the staples at Aasen’s first place of employment.
Once guests are seated, the first course will be Italian wedding soup, with hand rolled meatballs, paired with a Tuscan blend.
The next course will be gnocchi a la vodka sauce. Vodka sauce was very popular after World War II in the United States, and Donatello’s will pair this dish with a sauvignon blanc since its high acidity and citrus quality are a nice contrast to the richness of this dish.
The next course will be linguine with clams, paired with a medium-oaked California Chardonnay.
The main dish will be steak pizziola, which is tender ribeye with a sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onions and peppers. This will be paired with a bold dry Cabernet Sauvignon.
For dessert, guests will enjoy homemade spumoni ice cream paired with a riesling.
Only 60 seats are available and the event sold out the past two years, so interested diners are encouraged to purchase tickets soon.