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A great event for a cause worth supporting

2 min read

To the editor:

Carraba’s Restaurant, located on Pine Island Road, invited many of its regular customers to a private benefit at noon on Saturday. Only a handful of people (including myself) attended. For a small donation of $35, the guests were treated to a spectacular, thoughtfully planned five-course dinner with wine pairings for each course.

Appetizers included shrimp scampi and light zucchini fries with a garlic aoli sauce, paired with a bright riesling. The soup was minestrone, full flavored and with a touch of white pepper, paired with pinto grigio. Next came the salad, a beautiful Caeser salad, paired with malbec. The entree was a perfectly prepared filet mignon. Each guest was offered a choice of toppings, and this was served with sides of pasta and sauteed spinach. The filet was paired with a beautiful claret wine from the Coppola winery in California.

The benefit was to promote awareness of and to raise funds for Friedrich’s Ataxia, which afflicts a family member of the Carraba’s organization. Although it was described in the mid-1800’s, it is a rare disorder, for which the only treatments are for the symptoms.

Carraba’s restaurants around the country are holding benefits. I hope Carraba’s on Cape Coral will hold another. I hope you get an invitation; if you do, accept. It will be one of the best meals of your life.

Jane Sweetman

Cape Coral