All of this, minus 27 sous chefs, could be yours for 150 easy payments of $19.95

In order to avoid sounding too much like Oxi Clean pitchman and sharp bearded wonder Billy Mays, we try to stay away from the promotional fare on Hungry magazine, but every once in a while we just can’t help ourselves and end up purchasing a box full of Snuggies and a Barack Obama Chia pet…this time around, we’ve got something much better for you.

To benefit the Writer’s Theatre Nick Kokonas and the boys at Alinea are offering one lucky bidder the opportunity of:

Dinner for 2 at Alinea with wine pairings
A signed copy of the Alinea book

AND….

The opportunity to use the Alinea kitchen on a Monday or a Tuesday when we are closed to host your own dinner party. You bring the food and up to 6 guests… and we will set up tables in the kitchen for you to host. You get the use of the facilities all day to prep… and in the evening myself and one of our chefs will help you out in cooking and service. Make no mistake — you have to cook… we are not going to do the cooking for you… We will also open up the Alinea wine cellar for you to purchase wine at a discount. In short, Alinea is your home kitchen for one night only.

The auction takes place Friday but you can submit a proxy bid by going here and contacting Sarah Ostman at 847-242-6012.