Secret Florida Dinner Club Arranges Cemetery Dinner And More
Imagine buying tickets for an event that you know absolutely nothing about. The day of the event, you receive an email with a meeting location and suggestions for attire. You could be secreted away to a private museum for a dinner and a show with the dancers from the Florida Ballet. Or you could be whisked in horse-drawn carriages to a nearby cemetery for a night of live music and gourmet dishes by moonlight. This is the Legend Dinner Series: an underground dinner club in Jacksonville, Fla., where events are always lavish but kept secret until the last minute.
"The Legends Series is more than just a series of dinners... it's a series of culinary and sensory experiences," said chef Tom Gray of Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails, who has been supervising the team of chefs for each of the events. "It's always changing, it's a logistical puzzle, and there are really high expectations to live up to. We strive to deliver something to each of the attendees that is equivalent to a once-in-a lifetime experience."
So far there have been eight Legend dinner series for the food-lovers and adventurers of the Jacksonville area. The first dinner was in 2012, at which diners sat at a long table at an Ale House, and Philip Pan, concertmaster of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, composed a violin piece inspired by each course. The next Legend dinner will take place on Saturday, November 8. The details are, of course, being held secret, but tickets are $375 per person and the event will involve all-day entertainment culminating in a seven-course dinner prepared by chef Craig Richards from Atlanta's St. Cecilia, as well as a surprise guest chef.
For the latest happenings in the food and drink world, visit our Food News page.
Joanna Fantozzi is an Associate Editor with The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @JoannaFantozzi