When Harbor House restaurant in Seaport Village holds its 15th annual gourmet dinner charity event March 25 for St. Jude Hospital, the theme will be “Caribbean Nights.” Last year, the gala affair received enough money to surpass the $1 million mark after 14 years putting on the annual dinners. Restaurant co-owners Louis and Kathleen Rezzonico, originators of the galas, said it’s time to go for $1 million more. “[Participants can] join us for a four-course dinner with select wines and live and silent auctions,” said Kathleen Rezzonico. “Each $200 dinner ticket will be placed in a drawing to win two business-class plane trips to St. Thomas in the Caribbean, courtesy of our partner, American Airlines.” Reservations are required for a seating capacity of 225 diners. The silent auction begins at 6 p.m. and dinner is at 7:30 p.m. All proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help children in San Diego and around the world. “For years we had been devoted to supporting St. Jude,” Kathleen Rezzonico said. “So, we thought what can we do to spread the word? [We thought] maybe we could do something in the Village as a fund-raiser. It began as a modest undertaking with some of the shops. Then, we decided to do something bigger and started the dinners in 1996.” Each dinner has had a theme, directed toward American Airlines-sponsored tours, while the cuisine emulates the destination. “The first [dinner] was a Night in Italy with a singing chef,” Kathleen said. “People enjoyed it so much we said, ‘Let’s do it again with our airlines partner.’ We’ve been to Paris, Madrid, London and Japan — and Italy twice.” The volunteer St. Jude chapter is comprised of 25 members who meet once a month. Harbor House restaurant manager Jim Murphy is the event chairman, with San Diego Charger defensive end Jacques Cesaire acting as honorary chairman. Ken Cooke, a longtime member of the restaurant family, will be the executive chef. A collaboration between Rady Children’s Hospital, the University of California, San Diego and St. Jude’s expands critical research in childhood cancers and other pediatric diseases, and provides access in San Diego to clinical trials sponsored by Memphis-based St. Jude. St. Jude is a non-denominational hospital that treats children with cancer and other catastrophic illnesses regardless of race, creed or ability to pay. For more info, call (619) 232-1141.
