Couples win bid for meal with Mario

SOME OF THE estimated 725 people who attended the Leelanau Conservancy’s annual picnic Thursday at Woolsey Airport look at auction items. Organizers said the 120 auction items raised a combined $104,000.

The math is easy. Take the $67,000 price for a meal and divide it by 12.

But figures don’t come close to explaining why six couples with homes in Leelanau County spent the equivalent of a year of food bills for one dinner.

The bidding war went up and up last Thursday at the annual Leelanau Conservancy picnic for 12 seats at a dinner table with television star Mario Batali, providing his familiar ingredients as celebrity chef, epicurean educator, consummate host and entertainer.

It was the third year that Batali donated his services as a fundraiser for the Conservancy, and certainly word has gotten out about the auction. The winning bid in its first year was $25,000. The meal earned $42,000 for the Conservancy last year.

And last week the bidding reached “rarefied air,” according to Mary Loveless, who with her husband, Bill, joined a group of successful bidders attending the first event.

The Lovelesses have not bid on a second dinner, partially because the first was so fulfilling.

“It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime kind of things,” said Mary Loveless, who can be found at the family summer home in Omena when not in her native Memphis. “You can list maybe five or ten things in life that are so memorable.”

Besides growing more expensive, the auction itself has evolved. Loveless remembers her winning technique in buying the dinner two years ago.

“It was a silent auction. It basically involved hovering around the bidding sheet,” she said.

Last year, however, the meal was sold through a live auction, which generated much excitement under a big tent the Conservancy had erected at the DeYoung property, its latest contribution to eternal protection.

And last week, under a tent at Woolsey Airport, bidding was even more intense, according to Carolyn Faught, communications director with the Conservancy. An online bid of $10,000 had been recorded, but auctioneers barked just once for a $20,000 offer — and got it.

From then on, bidding came fast and furious, starting at very large increments and eventually inching upward $500 at a time.

When the gavel game down, six couples who are long-time Conservancy backers had bought some face time with one of the greatest chefs of our age, a chance to help prepare and eat a meal of a lifetime, and an opportunity to aid one of their favorite causes. The main bidder in the group had come in second the previous two years — and likely was standing behind Loveless when she wrote the final offer two years ago.

While the Conservancy did not release the names of bidders, Loveless said the group that bought the Batali dinner was acting on more than one level.

“It’s about equally weighted between the experience with Mario and a chance to help the Conservancy,” said Loveless. “If you were just looking to eat at one of Mario’s restaurants in New York, you could rent a jet for 12 people and come out better financially. It’s not just a dinner.”

Loveless remembers her experience, which started with food preparation (she chopped veggies) about 5 p.m., a stream of courses that included deep-dish peach cobbler and local sweet corn, and “of course … lots of wine along the way and lots of laughing.”

Participants left the Epicure catering kitchen at Cherry Basket Farm in Omena, where the 2007 meal also will be prepared on Aug. 26, with a gift basket from Batali that included cooking oil prepared from his farm in Italy.

Batali, known on the Food Network as one of the Iron Chefs, donates his time, energy — and complimentary food basket — to the auction as a way of helping preserve Leelanau County. Batali has a home in Leelanau Township.

“He does it because he loves this area,” said Brian Price, executive director of the Conservancy.
So do a lot of other people.

Some 120 auction items — all donated — were sold at the picnic for a combined $104,000. Items varied, and included hand-made beaded bracelets, compost from a local gardening center and a duck nesting box.

The picnic was attended by about 725 people, the same level as in recent years.

“It’s a wonderful event for us,” said Price. “It raises the profile of the organization.”

Was he surprised at the price fetched for the Batali dinner? “I never dreamed it would have gone that high a couple years ago. But there has been a progression over the past two years.”

Added Loveless, a 23-year summer resident: “Leelanau County always surprises me.”