Long Island Cheese Pumpkin Dinner

Slow Food East End and 18 Bay Restaurant present a Fall Market Dinner honoring Susan and Myron Levine, celebrating the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin on Sunday, October 23, from 5 to 8 PM. The Long Island Cheese Pumpkin is one of the oldest varieties cultivated. The pumpkin is a part of Long Island tradition and culture and makes for a delicious ingredient in many meals. According to Slow Food's website, "In the 1800s, cookbooks and farmers almanacs in the Long Island Sound frequently cited the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin as a regional favorite." 18 Bay Restaurant, located in an 1893 vintage farmhouse on Shelter Island, is a recent recipient of Slow Food's Snail of Approval Award. Chef-owners Elizabeth Ronzetti and Adam Kopels create memorable fare with the freshest ingredients grown and raised on the East End. For this year's Fall Market Dinner, Chefs Ronzetti and Kopels' menu will spotlight the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin. This year, the Long Island Regional Seed Consortium launched The Long Island Cheese Pumpkin Project as an effort to raise awareness of this local variety. The pumpkin has been slowly disappearing from commercial seed catalogs since the 1970s and is currently listed among the 200 foods in Slow Food USA's "Ark of Taste." Slow Food East End is proud to be an ambassador of the Long Island Cheese Pumpkin by helping to save this indigenous species. The Slow Food East End community will honor Susan and Myron Levine by presenting the second Carlo Petrini Award for their generous support of charitable programs that promote good farming practices, healthy eating, education and a sustainable environment through the Joshua Levine Memorial Foundation. This includes Slow Food East End's Master Farmer Program and support for Edible School Gardens on the East End. The cost of dinner is $95 for members and $110 for non members. For reservations visit www.slowfoodeastend.org.

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