Anodyne Hosting Community Harvest Dinner

Anodyne Coffee will host a community dinner in celebration of the fall harvest.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 8 at the Bay View cafe, 2920 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.

In a departure from the cafe’s usual coffee and pizza, the family-style meal will lean on fresh, seasonal produce from co-owner Lacee Perry‘s garden.

Perry launched Anodyne along with her husband Matt McClutchy in 1999. For the past few years, Perry has tended to a garden and greenhouse, incorporating a bounty of seasonal produce into the summer menu, and preserving the extras to use throughout the colder seasons.

“It has allowed me to have a bit more control over what goes into our food and to use things at the peak of freshness,” she said.

Perry said she sees the harvest dinner as a way to include community members in the joy of the season.

“We are hoping it’s a nice evening for everyone to enjoy the last bits of sun and warmth and the harvest that we work so hard for each year,” she said. “The pizza kitchen has always been a very personal endeavor that I pour a lot of love into, so the dinner is a way to gather folks together to try to share that. Plus, I like a good party,” she added.

The four-course dinner menu, which Perry called “cozy and not too fussy,” will showcase Anodyne-grown herbs, apples, squash, black beans and lemongrass, with additional produce supplemented by Village Farmstead in Oak Creek and the South Shore Farmers Market.

The meal will open with a Wisconsin cheese and snack plate, paired with a prosecco and apple cider whisky cocktail. The second course will be an onion and herb tart with a wine pairing.

Guests can choose between stracotto (Italian pot roast) or vegetarian braised wild mushrooms and black beans for a main course. Both entrees are served with wood-roasted squash, braised greens, risotto and a wine pairing.

Perry said she is most excited for dessert, which will feature “the one-night-only return of Grandma Judy’s (McClutchy’s mother’s) biscotti.” The twice-baked Italian cookies will be served alongside cardamom and pear cake with lemongrass cream. Amaro, which Perry purchased in Italy during a visit to the cafe’s balsamic producer, will close out the final course.

Attendees can expect a laid-back atmosphere to accompany the meal. Perry said she plans to spruce up the cafe space with dried flowers and “bits and bobs” from her garden. “The fire will be going and I’m hoping for a warm, relaxed evening,” she said.

The dinner will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 8. Tickets are $80 each and are available for purchase on Eventbrite.

Photos