Harvest Moon Festival presented by Reinhart Foodservice
A navy-blue canopy sky and twinkling stars on a September Sunday evening. Wines, savory bites and the Wings of Swing band.
What a great evening it will be at the third annual Harvest Moon Festival presented by Reinhart Foodservice, one of the can’t-miss events of the year in the Ozarks.
Now is the time to sign up for this Sunday, September 25 evening on the immaculate driving range of Highland Springs Country Club in Springfield.
“Highland Springs is a beautiful setting as it is,” said Kim Lorenzen, owner of Macadoodles. “But you relax on the driving range with white chairs, white table cloths and world-trained chefs, and you have this beautiful evening.”
This year’s Harvest Moon Festival is the third annual, and why not? It’s been a terrific fundraiser for the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, part of the PGA’s Web.com Tour. A year ago, the Harvest Moon Festival’s auction alone raised $70,000.
The Harvest Moon Festival presented by Reinhart Foodservice begins at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25 on the driving range of Highland Springs Country Club. World-trained chefs will offer up flavorful bites and desserts, while specialty cocktails, Octoberfest beers and an assortment of elegant wines will be available. The event also will feature a live auction. Couples are $500, while a table of eight is $1,850. To sponsor a table, call 417-887-3400.
Auctions items include a getaway to Casa Suenos, a resort on the Pacific Ocean shores of Mexico featuring five ocean-facing suites, a full staff and one of the idealistic tropical getaways.
For Lorenzen, the event was such a hit in its first year that she and her husband, Brett, soon joined the Harvest Moon Festival’s committee.
“It’s a great couples affair,” Lorenzen said. “There are areas where eight chefs get to showcase their best menus. They get to be creative.”
The event is memorable for so many reasons.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Lorenzen said. “As the sun goes down, you hang out by the fire pit. With the Price Cutter Charity Championship, it’s such a massive production. Harvest Moon is really a wrap-up event to raise additional funds and take a deep breath and enjoy everything that happened over the summer.”
What to go?
What: Harvest Moon Festival presented by Reinhart Foodservice
When: 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25
Where: Driving range of Highland Springs Country Club
Tickets: Call 417-887-3400. It is $500 for a couple, or $1,850 for a table of eight
The menu
- Farmer’s Gastropub, Andy Hampshire: English-style pork and beans: Slow-roasted pork belly, British bangers, cannellini beans, kale, butternut squash and a sweet onion crust; lamb mappas: lamb curry with tomatoes and coconut milk, roasted mushrooms, diced potatoes with house-made Naan bread
- Vito’s Kitchen, Vito Palmietto: Sausage & Grits – slow roasted hand-made sausage served over a bed of creamy wild mushroom polenta; Mussels & Spaghetti Squash – Steamed Mussels served with a rich white wine & butter sauce over a bed of spaghetti squash and zesty feta cheese crumbles
- Big Cedar Lodge/Top of the Rock, Mike Halbert: Late Summer Pot Roast – Braised short rib served with heirloom tomatoes and a sharp cheddar potato purée
- Highland Springs Country Club, Brad Lyons: Harvest Moon Chicken – Pumpkin seed crusted chicken breast with an apple pecan pancake and a drizzle of amaretto apple cream sauce; Sweet Pork Tenderloin – Seared marinated pork tenderloin over sweet potato purée, topped with Bing cherry relish
- Metro Farmers, Wes Johnson: Pickled Pepper & Roast Pork Bahn Mi – House-made pickled peppers are paired with slow roasted pulled pork and served on a Vietnamese Bahn Mi Baguette; A Farmer’s Ragu – Tender braised goat in a savory farmstead tomato garlic ragu
- The Keeter Center, Robert Stricklin: The Grand Dessert Sampler — Pumpkin Cheesecake Verrine, Salted Caramel Éclair, Espresso Panna Cotta, Chocolate Ganache Tartelette
- That Lebanese Place, Elie Ghanem: Lebanese version of the Greek gyro
- Progressive Pop-Up, Daniel Ernce: Roasted Butternut Squash Fries – sliced and roasted butternut squash spritzed with a brown sugar and cider vinegar shrub and served with a bacon fat cream & smoked pecan crumble; Boneless Baby Backs – baby back ribs that are deboned and meat glued together before being roasted and pressed. Individual slices are then seared and served over an apple, brie, parsnip & potato purée. Drizzled with pomegranate molasses & sweet soy glaze and garnished with scallions
- The Specialty Drinks, by Progressive Pop Up: The Midwest Manhattan – Bourbon and fresh pressed apple cider with a splash of lemon, float of ginger beer & a touch of aromatic bitter; Virgin Island – Smooth pear nectar infused with ginger syrup, mixed with Topo Chico lime sparkling water and garnished with a slice of lemon