Last year, Mark Hinkle, the GM of Annie Gunn’s in Chesterfield called upon his chef friends to help with the Ollie Hinkle I ♥ Food & Wine Festival. Restaurant chefs, wine distributors, and local breweries responded in a big way, and the event was a resounding success. Hinkle was humbled "that they were so very quick to help."
Mark and Jennifer Hinkle lost their son, Ollie Hinkle, at the age of 13 months to congenital heart disease, the most common birth defect in the U.S. and the leading cause of death in infants. During the illness, the Hinkle’s became involved with The Children’s Heart Foundation, an organization that helps combat children’s heart disease. The Ollie Hinkle I ♥ Food & Wine Benefit allowed the Hinkles to raise awareness, research money, and, as Jennifer Hinkle said last year, “to celebrate Ollie’s life and carry on his name.”
The second annual Ollie Hinkle I ♥ Food & Wine Festival will be held on Sunday, November 9, from 2 to 5 p.m. in the event space at at The Restaurant at The Cheshire. This year even more restaurant chefs—22 of them--are participating. Mark Hinkle says “there are great food events and great wine events—this one is both. Oh, and there’s beer.”
The gustatory extravaganza will feature offerings from the city’s most renowned chefs representing the city’s finest restaurants:
- Annie Gunn's
- Bar Napoli
- Basso
- The Block
- Cielo
- Cleveland-Heath
- Five Bistro
- Fleming's
- Home Wine Kitchen
- Juniper
- The Libertine
- Mai Lee
- Mike Shannon’s
- Niche
- Olio & Elaia
- Oceano Bistro
- Pappy's Smokehouse
- Rappahannock Oyster Co.
- The Restaurant at the Cheshire
- Robust Wine Bar
- Salume Beddu
- Sidney Street Cafe
- Strange Donuts
The participating breweries are Perennial Artisan Ales, Civil Life Brewing Company, Four Hands Brewing Company, and Urban Chestnut.
The wine selection is long and strong: 250 selections from scores of wineries, including Ehlers Estate, Duckhorn Vineyards, Heitz Cellars, Silver Oak, Chateau Montelena, Jordan, and Chateau Beaucastel, to name a few.
One of the new participants--Rappahannock Oyster Co.—will set up a raw bar of sorts featuring several varieties of Chesapeake Bay oysters. And Mark Hinkle says “and there’ll be plenty of oyster-friendly wines and champagnes to go along with.”
Guests at the event will also be able to purchase bottles or cases of wine at sizable discounts. A portion of wine sales will be donated to the Mighty Oakes Heart Foundation (started by a Webster Groves family who lost their son Oakes to a congenital heart defect). Wine orders can either be shipped or be picked up at a later date from Annie Gunn's.
Tickets to the Ollie Hinkle I ♥ Food & Wine Festival are $125 and can be purchased here.
