Robert and Molly Krause, owners of Krause Dining, Esquina and The Burger Stand are catering Dinner Under The Stars on Sept. 17. The $250-per-place setting dinner will take place on 15 acres of land at Himmel's Rand Farm in Eudora.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Robert and Molly Krause, owners of Krause Dining, Esquina and The Burger Stand are catering Dinner Under The Stars on Sept. 17. The $250-per-place setting dinner will take place on 15 acres of land at Himmel's Rand Farm in Eudora.
For the first time, on September 17, donors, supporters and friends of the Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H., will gather for a fundraiser at a country estate 15 minutes east of Lawrence. The benefit will feature a meal donated and prepared by Robert and Molly Krause, owners of Esquina, The Burger Stand and Krause Dining. All proceeds from the event go to replenish the scholarship fund at the Arts Center.
According to Susan Tate, executive director, the event, Dinner Under the Stars, will help raise money for scholarships that go to students attending classes at the Arts Center. These students vary in age from preschool to high school.
Last year, according to Dan Schriner, who serves on the Arts Center’s executive committee, the fund succeeded in giving approximately $90,000 in financial assistance to more than 500 families. Money from the fund allows students to take classes in various subjects, including dance, drama and visual arts.
“It’s very important to have this kind of support,” Schriner says. “I don’t think the Arts Center itself could have even been built without the support of the community.”
The benefit is especially important now, adds Schriner, because the center has lost public funding for supporting the arts. “We’ve lost state funding this year,” he says, “but the arts in general have always been underfunded.”
Still, Schriner says to his knowledge no one was turned away last year when they applied for a scholarship — an achievement made possible in part by private contributions.
For his role, Chef Robert Krause says that donating his time and effort to the Arts Center seemed natural. His daughters attended daycare at the center, and he and his wife wanted to give something back. Because funding for the arts was being cut in Kansas, they decided to help organize the benefit dinner.
“My friend has a beautiful home,” Krause says, speaking of the 15-acre estate that sits among ponds and wooded hills at Himmel’s Rand Farm. “He volunteered to let us use that space if we wanted to do something for the betterment of the community. So we’re going to do a long table on the dam, and we’re going to serve a four-course dinner.”
Although everyone attending will pay $250 to dine at that table, Krause points out that all the money will go to a good cause. He adds that now, with a more flexible schedule, he almost always prefers to cook for charity, something he’s always wanted to do, but rarely had the time for until recently.
“I’ve been in the kitchen for 30 years,” Krause says, “but the only thing I really cook for anymore is trying to raise money for different organizations I believe in.”
As for what’s on the menu, Krause will be serving dishes with local ingredients, but he didn’t mention any specific recipes. He downplays his role as chef, too, insisting that the focus should be on the Arts Center. He laughs, saying, “I’d like to be out of the spotlight, personally.”
“They need money,” Krause says. “If I can help them — I’d like to have the focus be on them, not me. If my cooking skills can be of value to them in raising money for furthering their programs, I’ll do what I can to help these organizations and the community in general.”
Susan Tate says that the Arts Center is excited about this first-ever Dinner Under the Stars. She also says that the event would not be possible without the work of volunteers who believe in the arts community in Lawrence, and who are dedicated to supporting the mission of the Arts Center. “And of course we’re honored that Robert will be preparing this meal for us,” she adds.
Dan Schriner says that invitations for the fundraiser first went out to the Imagination Society, a group of philanthropists who donate $1,000 a year or more to the Arts Center, but that the dinner is open to the general public, and that anyone who wants to support the cause of the scholarship fund is invited and encouraged to attend.
“We’ve got maybe 45 or 50 places left,” he says. “That’s out of 180 or so spots.”
Comments
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overplayedhistory (anonymous) says…
It would be nice if it were also natural for him to not Bully his local purveyors of raw goods.
It would also be nice if it were natural for him to not talk $h!t on other eateries.
GenePoolLifeguard (anonymous) says…
I typically do not get involved in this sort of online banter, but overplayedhistory your comment is not only obnoxious but also ridiculous. You are attacking the character and opinion of Mr. Krause. Let me be clear on this before you say I am in cahoots with Mr. Krause, I have never met the guy or even heard of him before I skimmed this article. Mr Krause's business practices are inconsequential to the article and its general purpose. Your notion of him being a bully is obviously just an attempt to get a quick jab in at Mr. Krause, which I might add is rather childish. Furthermore, your distaste of Mr. Krause's opinion about other resturants around town is in itself an opinion and I hope I am not the first to tell you, but opinions typcially fail to hold any water. Above all else, Mr. Krause is donating his time and specific skills not only to the community, but to a part of the community where funding has been cut. The arts is what seperates Lawrence from all the other cities in this state. Taking cheap jabs at Mr. Krause when he is doing an act of kindness to the community is plain ignorant.
overplayedhistory (anonymous) says…
Krause is very vocal about other restaurants, that is a fact.
I don't like what the Browngov has done to the arts either, but I am not going to pretend certain people's poop does not stink, because they see a no downside wise PR opportunity.
When you tell someone, that you will quit buying their product, because they want to sell to someone else as well, word gets out quick.
There is a fine line in business between being shrewd when discouraging competition and keeping a reputation that insures loyal customers in years to come.
GenePoolLifeguard (anonymous) replies…
I am not arguing whether or not Mr. Krause is giving out his opinions freely, I am merely just saying that he is intitled to just as everyone else. If he does then wonderful, if he doesn't great. I am confused on this public relation bit. He is using this dinner to promote his food? If so what is the big deal? A chef wanting to show case his talents for the benefit of his business meanwhile helping the community. Your forgetting the main goal here is to raise money for the community. Also this idea of exclusivity to purchasers is not new or uncommon at all, if fact it is one of the best ways to run a business. Rivals without materials to produce goods don't stand to be rivals very long. Either way the main point of my initial post is to thank the man for donating his time and skills to the community. If he makes a buck off of it so be it. I didn't read anything about other chefs in town offering their skills to the benefit of the community.
shipoffools (anonymous) says…
I have worked with the Krauses. He has helped me and gone out of his way to introduce me to others that could use my services. I am glad that they are donating their skills and time/money for this worthy cause.
TheSychophant (anonymous) says…
Atthough I have never met Mr. Krause, over the years I have read several comments alluding to an oversized ego. All of that is irrelevant. I have no idea is he is a little full of himself, and if he is, frankly, I don't give a damn. He and his wife are stepping to the plate in times of need to help the disadvantaged. Good for him. Wish Lawrence had more folks who were willing to donate their time and money to just causes.
And to those who suggest he is only doing this to showcase his cooking skills, I say nonsense. His reputation as a chef precedes him.
Thanks for your efforts, Mr.and Mrs. Krause.
ralphralph (anonymous) says…
Looks like something fun, creative and different .... it's gotta be a zoning violation.
EarthaKitt (anonymous) says…
Mosquitoes?
Onlyifitsadryshelter (anonymous) says…
I for one say thank you Krause!!!! Don't know him. Don't care. What a unique and wonderful thing to do! Obviously it is going over well as they have sold quite a few tickets!
weiser (anonymous) says…
He is God's gift to the world...just ask him and he will tell you! Feel sorry for his wife.
riverdrifter (anonymous) replies…
Well, he's shooting to raise $45,000 for a good cause. What have you done lately? I feel sorry for your wife or husband or whatever.
Back under that rock with moot & OPH.