By Janet Wight
Meeting neighbors, engaging in great conversation, enjoying delicious food and seeing how residents have updated their homes are some of the benefits of attending the St. Anthony Park progressive dinner.
After a hiatus of a few years during the Covid-19 pandemic, this popular annual happening is returning on Saturday, March 8, led by a fresh slate of enthusiastic organizers.
Each of the participants will host one course: appetizer, salad, main dish or dessert. About 100 people are expected to attend.
This highly anticipated event will kick off at Centennial United Methodist Church-St. Anthony Park at 2200 Hillside Ave. Diners will receive their individualized schedules and have appetizers at the church.
The rest of the courses follow, each served in the home of one of the hosts. Each course setting will consist of a group of six to ten people. Participants will be part of different groupings as the dinner progresses.
Vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free diners will also be accommodated.
Steve Plagens, SAP resident since 1982 and a long-term host and organizer, is pleased the dinner has returned. “I am personally delighted that we are doing this again,” he said.
Plagens appreciates all of the tasty dishes prepared by the hosts. “They put on the dog” and really knock themselves out to provide something special for their guests, he added.
Another returning host is Fariba Sanikhatam. A resident of St. Anthony Park since 2001, she has participated in more than 20 of these dinners. She usually serves the main dish since that is where the need is greatest.
Sanikhatam likes to prepare one of her favorite Iranian recipes because many people enjoy tasting a dish that they have never had before, she said.
One of these dishes is Ghormeh Sabzi, a fragrant stew containing all kinds of herbs, meat and beans and served over rice, she said.
Registration for the dinner closes on Feb. 28. To sign up, or for further information, send an email to [email protected] or reach out to Breanna Mueller at 651-235-8110.
Janet Wight is a regular freelance writer for the Bugle.
