Join Us
In The Garden
Erkiletian Family Home
St. Michaels, Maryland | Six O’ Clock June 1, 2023
Rain or Shine
The Erkiletian Family invites you to an intimate night at their family farm in St Michaels, Maryland.
Dinner will be prepared in the garden by Michelin Star Chef Michael Rafidi of Albi in Washington, D.C. in collaboration with Chef Michael Correll of Ruse in St. Michaels, Maryland.
All proceeds will go towards Emerging Scholars, an organization that is near to their heart.
The Details
$2,100 Ticket Price Includes:
One night stay at the Wildset Hotel, Cocktail Hour, and Tasting Menu with Wine Pairing
*More details on pricing in the RSVP section
Thursday, June 1, 2023
4:00 PM
Check into your room at The Wildset Hotel
5:45 PM
Shuttle provided to the Erkiletian Family Home
6:00 PM
Artisan cocktails prepared by Radovan Jankovic and hors d'oeuvres
7:00 PM
Chef’s tasting menu prepared table side by Chef Rafidi and Chef Correll with wine pairing by Sommelier William Simons
9:00 PM
After dinner cocktails by the fire pit
10:00 PM
Return shuttle to The Wildset Hotel
*Limited seating available
Michael Rafidi
Michael Rafidi is the chef and owner of the Michelin-starred Albi, located in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard. The menus reflect a creative update to traditional Arabic cuisine, with modern techniques utilizing the best the Mid-Atlantic has to offer. Inspired by his Palestinian family roots and grandparents' home cooking, Rafidi has spent countless years professionally cooking anything but Arabic food all over the country until he opened Albi in early 2020.
Rafidi was recognized as Eater DC’s Chef of the Year in 2017. He was a 2018 finalist for Rising Star Chef and a 2022 finalist for Chef of the Year in the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s RAMMY Awards. In May 2022, Albi was awarded a coveted Michelin Star and most recently, Rafidi was named a James Beard Finalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic.
Michael Correll
Michael Correll is a native of Bel Air, MD where his passion for cooking started from an early age when he would help his mother prepare meals for family and friends. After graduating in 2008 from the Art Institute of Philadelphia’s Culinary Program, he worked at several of the city's top restaurants.
In 2017 he worked with Atlas Restaurant Group to open Tagliata and The Elk Room as Chef de Cuisine where he helped obtain such awards as Baltimore Magazine's Best New Restaurant in 2017 and Esquire's list of Best New Bars 2018. There he worked side by side with Chef/Owner Juilian Marucci to source the region's best ingredients and work with multiple local farmers and vendors.
As Executive Chef of Ruse at The Wildset Hotel in St. Michaels, his mission is to bring his own personal style to the area and highlight great local seafood and produce, but to also source other great sustainable ingredients from around the region.
Ruse was recently recently reviewed in The Washington Post by Tom Sietsema “Ruse celebrates ‘approachable luxury’ on the Eastern Shore”.
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William Simons is the director of operations|wine director of Albi, located in Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood. Simons arrived in the District after more than a decade of experience as a wine professional, sommelier, and restaurant manager in his native Baltimore and New York City. Simons holds the Advanced certification through the Court of Master Sommeliers, and was awarded both the Walter Clore and Rudd scholarships for earning the top marks on his exams.
Simons pens a wine list which draws from diverse sources, regions, and varieties to pair with Chef Rafidi’s hearth-fired cuisine. By turns irreverent and bookish, the wine list is divided by style, featuring an impressive vertical of Chateau Musar, numerous Shakespearean references, grapes familiar and niche, historical tidbits, and a bent toward artisan producers from both the Old World and New.
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As a lifetime lover of all things culinary, Allie Balin has spent time in many different arenas of the food and beverage industry. She completed a graduate degree from NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Science in World History with a focus in Food Studies while working in restaurants and writing for Gourmet Live, Epicurious, and Saveur. She was the Co-Founder, Co-Owner, General Manager, and Sommelier at the award winning Henrietta Red in Nashville, TN. And most recently, she founded Balin Beverage Co., a female owned, spirits, wine, and beer import and distribution business based in Northern Nevada. Throughout her career, Allie’s been named one of the most influential sommeliers by Wine & Spirits Magazine, one of Southern Living’s thirty women moving southern food forward, and one of the twelve chefs and restaurateurs on the rise by Restaurant Hospitality. She gained her Certified Sommelier Certification with the Court of Master Sommeliers and was named one of the 30 under 30 hospitality professionals in America on Zagat’s first ever nationwide list. Allie thoughtfully curates the beverage list at Ruse with a focus on small production beer, wine, + spirits, and classic and contemporary cocktails.
A Stay at The Wildset Hotel
The Wildset Hotel sits on idyllic North Talbot Street in St Michaels on the Chesapeake Bay. Composed of four nineteenth-century building, each pays homage to the town’s heritage yet is updated with luxurious modern amenities.
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