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Bite of Bénin Five Course Dinner – A Cultural and Culinary Journey
February 29 @ 6:30 pm
$180.00 – $500.00
Chef Adé
Photography by Nancy Sidelinger Herring
Screenshot 2024-01-25 at 3.57.36 PM
Screenshot 2024-01-22 at 6.42.13 PM
Screenshot 2024-01-22 at 6.42.57 PM
“It is not only empowering to represent heritage and identity through food, it has the power to heal our generational trauma…”
In collaboration with Ashley Christensen Restaurants:
Bite of Bénin is a fully immersive culinary experience by North Carolina’s Chef of the Year, Adé Carrena. Join us this evening for a beautiful and heartfelt journey of food and film as we will be exploring the intersection between West African food and the cuisine of the U.S. South.
This unique dining experience will begin with the screening of Adé’s award winning documentary of the same name, followed by a Béninese hand washing ceremony in honor of the rich traditions of Chef Adé’s homeland. The dinner will consist of a 5-course themed tasting designed to encourage conversations around cultural reclamation and exchange. Each course will have a zero proof cocktail pairing and will be introduced by a short, locally recorded poetic prose crafting context around every dish.
We seek to create a safe space for people and communities to gather around the table and share powerful stories that inspire healing across the African Diaspora.
About Chef Adé
Adé Carrena is a chef and storyteller who specializes in Neo-West African cuisine. She is the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association’s 2023 Chef of the Year and the 2023 People’s Choice award recipient for her first film, Bite of Bénin, at Beyond: The Cary Film Festival.
Her mission is to bridge cultural gaps, reimagine West African food, and create safe spaces for important conversations that inspire healing across the African diaspora. Adé has spent the last 6 years curating culinary experiences highlighting Black foodways while supporting local Black Farmers. She is the founder and owner of iLéWA Foods, an innovative CPG Brand that aims to build more equitable futures by creating economic opportunity that empowers women producers in West Africa as agents within global markets.
Chef Adé's Journey through Bite of Bénin...
Adopted at the age of ten from her homeland of Bénin, West Africa, and raised in Connecticut, Chef Adé Carrena travels back home on a journey to reclaim her identity through food and represent what was taken away from her across the Diaspora. But how does one define home?
There lies in everyone a deeply rooted connection to home that is interwoven into the fiber of our being and can never be severed. For Chef Adé, home is a place she is continually being directed toward. In this beautiful, and at times, painful story, Adé travels back home to understand her African heritage and reclaim her identity through food and the Béninese women who mean so much to her.
She learns that food is not solely about sustenance but it is very much embedded in our identity. It represents culture, history and most importantly it nourishes the soul. It is not only empowering to represent heritage and identity through food, it has the power to heal our generational trauma…
A heartfelt thank you is graciously extended to Ashley Christensen Restaurants for taking a vested interest in the mission of this experience and providing the beautiful space of Bridge Club in sponsorship.
AC Restaurants is the local organization behind many of Raleigh’s favorite spots including downtown highlights: Beasley’s Chicken + Honey, Poole’s Diner and Fox Liqour Bar. Bridge Club, our destination, is an elegant social gathering space and event venue located above the lauded Death & Taxes restaurant, nestled on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a beautiful historic bank building in the heart of downtown.
Ticket Information
Multiple prices are included for those that wish to offer additional support for intersectional and cross-cultural culinary experiences such as this one. All tickets will include the full dinner experience.
Any purchases above the base price go an extremely long way to help continue the mission of this event and, most importantly, help make it sustainable to invite a diverse range of people to sit at the table with us. Thank you so much for your contributions and support! The ticket options are as follows…
A Seat at the Table – $180
● Includes a seat at the table
Supporter Ticket $300
● Includes a seat at the table
● Plus an assorted iLéWA Foods Spice Box containing flavors from the dinner
Sponsor Ticket $500
● Includes a seat at the table
● Plus an assorted iLéWA Foods Spice Box containing flavors from the dinner
● Sponsors a community member to attend – This ticket supports an additional patron from the artistic/creative community who is deserving of recognition. We want to bring as many voices to the table as we can. Thank you!
Chef’s VIP Ticket $1000
●Includes a seat at the table
● Plus an assorted iLéWA Foods Spice Box containing flavors from the dinner
● Sponsors a community member – This ticket supports an additional patron from
the community who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend in an
effort to curate an intersectional and diverse crowd. Thank you!
● A private culinary experience in the location of your choosing with Chef Adé and up to 4
guests.
Dietary Information
The menu is carefully crafted to preserve authenticity within its recipes and from their culinary tradition of origin. For that reason, this particular dinner will not feature substitutions.
*Please be advised that some dishes may contain peanuts.
“It is not only empowering to represent heritage and identity through food, it has the power to heal our generational trauma…”
In collaboration with Ashley Christensen Restaurants:
Bite of Bénin is a fully immersive culinary experience by North Carolina’s Chef of the Year, Adé Carrena.
Join us this evening for a beautiful and heartfelt journey of food and film as we will be exploring the intersection between West African food and the cuisine of the U.S. South.
This unique dining experience will begin with the screening of Adé’s award winning documentary of the same name, followed by a Béninese hand washing ceremony in honor of the rich traditions of Chef Adé’s homeland.
The dinner itself will consist of a 5-course themed tasting designed to encourage conversations around cultural reclamation and exchange. Each course will have a zero proof cocktail pairing and will be introduced by a short, locally recorded poetic prose crafting context around every dish.
We seek to create a safe space for people and communities to gather around the table and share powerful stories that inspire healing across the African Diaspora.
About Chef Adé:
Chef Adé
Photography by Nancy Sidelinger Herring
Screenshot 2024-01-25 at 3.57.36 PM
Screenshot 2024-01-22 at 6.42.13 PM
Screenshot 2024-01-22 at 6.42.57 PM
Adé Carrena is a chef and storyteller who specializes in Neo-West African cuisine.
She is the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association’s 2023 Chef of the Year and the 2023 People’s Choice award recipient for her first film, Bite of Bénin, at Beyond: The Cary Film Festival.
Her mission is to bridge cultural gaps, reimagine West African food, and create safe spaces for important conversations that inspire healing across the African diaspora.
Adé has spent the last 6 years curating culinary experiences highlighting Black foodways while supporting local Black Farmers. She is the founder and owner of iLéWA Foods, an innovative CPG Brand that aims to build more equitable futures by creating economic opportunity that empowers women producers in West Africa as agents within global markets.
Chef Adé's Journey through Bite of Bénin...
Adopted at the age of ten from her homeland of Bénin, West Africa, and raised in Connecticut, Chef Adé Carrena travels back home on a journey to reclaim her identity through food and represent what was taken away from her across the Diaspora. But how does one define home?
There lies in everyone a deeply rooted connection to home that is interwoven into the fiber of our being and can never be severed. For Chef Adé, home is a place she is continually being directed toward. In this beautiful, and at times, painful story, Adé travels back home to understand her African heritage and reclaim her identity through food and the Béninese women who mean so much to her.
She learns that food is not solely about sustenance but it is very much embedded in our identity. It represents culture, history and most importantly it nourishes the soul. It is not only empowering to represent heritage and identity through food, it has the power to heal our generational trauma…
A heartfelt thank you is graciously extended to Ashley Christensen Restaurants for taking a vested interest in the mission of this experience and providing the beautiful space of Bridge Club in sponsorship.
AC Restaurants is the local organization behind many of Raleigh’s favorite spots including downtown highlights: Beasley’s Chicken + Honey, Poole’s Diner and Fox Liqour Bar.
Bridge Club, our destination, is an elegant social gathering space and event venue located above the lauded Death & Taxes restaurant, nestled on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a beautiful historic bank building in the heart of downtown.
Ticket Information
Multiple prices are included for those that wish to offer additional support for intersectional and cross-cultural culinary experiences such as this one. All tickets will include the full dinner experience.
Any purchases above the base price go an extremely long way to help continue the mission of this event and, most importantly, help make it sustainable to invite a diverse range of people to sit at the table with us. Thank you so much for your contributions and support! The ticket options are as follows…
A Seat at the Table – $180
● Includes a seat at the table
Supporter Ticket $300
● Includes a seat at the table
● Plus an assorted iLéWA Foods Spice Box containing flavors from the dinner
Sponsor Ticket $500
● Includes a seat at the table
● Plus an assorted iLéWA Foods Spice Box containing flavors from the dinner
● Sponsors a community member to attend – This ticket supports an additional patron from the artistic/creative community who is deserving of recognition. We want to bring as many voices to the table as we can. Thank you!
Chef’s VIP Ticket $1000
●Includes a seat at the table
● Plus an assorted iLéWA Foods Spice Box containing flavors from the dinner
● Sponsors a community member – This ticket supports an additional patron from the community who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend in an effort to curate an intersectional and diverse crowd. Thank you!
● A private culinary experience in the location of your choosing with Chef Adé and up to 4 guests.
Dietary Information
The menu is carefully crafted to preserve authenticity within its recipes and from their culinary tradition of origin. For that reason, this particular dinner will not feature substitutions.
*Please be advised that some dishes may contain peanuts.
