Fantasy has always had its place. There, deep in the creative mind, there in your dreams, but when you are Patrick O'Connell, chef extraordinaire and owner of the magical Inn at Little Washington and you are celebrating 30 years of making dreams come true, fantasy quickly turns to reality. April 9th was a mild, overcast spring day in our nation's capital, but the sun shone on the Inn's gala event. At 6pm on Constitution Avenue, the red carpet came alive with enthusiastic guests making their way into the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.

Flanking the entry were eight perfect little red, white and blue, American revolutionary soldiers, all saluting and all around the age of 10. Think Little Washingtons...

Once inside, the fantasy was heightened by the presence of graceful, lovely young ladies from The Washington Ballet, tip toeing their way through the crowd and little ones dressed as mushrooms who came to the feet of a full size moss-covered-man centerpiece. His hat and shoulder swag were a garnish of brightly colored apples, lemons, radishes and artichokes. He had cheeks made of apple halves, eyebrows and lips made of string beans and bundles of carrots, potatoes and corn lie at his feet. It all made my mouth water in anticipation of the meal that would eventually follow.

The night was not all about food, even though Mr. O'Connell could have made it so. This night, his night, the Inn's celebratory night, was so much more about giving. Both giving forward and giving back. Instead of aligning all the award winning greatness he and his establishment deserved, he realigned that energy and passion to others. In giving forward, he set his sights, and our's, on Five and Alive, a non profit organization whose mission is to save the lives of the 10 million children, in 30 countries, that die each year before the age of five. To that cause, the evenings guests were treated to 30 silent and 3 live auctions and then a surprise.

In giving back, he created an organization appropriately named, American's Culinary Pioneers, whose mission would be to award and give thanks to those who paved the way to the gastronomic delights we experience in the top restaurants and home kitchens today. The list of 30 not only includes great chefs, but pioneering visionaries. Certainly names like Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, Martha Stewart and Thomas Jefferson, easily roll off the tongue. Others such as Tim and Nina Zagat "Zagat Survey", Robert Mondavi "Mondavi Vineyards", Jess Jackson "Kendall-Jackson" and Robert Parker "Wine Advocate" are on the list too. The list also sees the likes of James Beard who was anointed the "dean of American cooking" by the New York Times in 1954, Craig Claiborne who, among other things, is credited through his New York Times food page with making world cuisine accessible to the American audience. There was Edna Lewis, the daughter of freed slaves who grew to become a renowned chef and celebrated author and Washington Post restaurant critic, Phyllis Richman. There were many others, but the stars of the night and in attendance were Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Gary Danko, Dean Fearing, Charlie Trotter and Alice Waters, some of today's most renowned chefs and restaurateurs. Special guests were led to a private reception before the gala, to spend time with these giants of the culinary world.

With the silent auction still in full swing, doors then opened for all to enter the main ballroom of the Mellon Auditorium. Massive Roman columns rose to a lavishly ornate ceiling. The tables for 500 guests were beautifully appointed with citrus centerpieces of lemons, oranges or apples and all the glasses and silverware one would need to indulge themselves with a champagne toast, seven courses, including Minted Pea Soup, Seared Ahi Tuna with Daikon Radish and Cucumber Sorbet, Fricassee of Maine Lobster, Braised Veal Cheek, a Trio of Cheeses and an ending with Lilliputian Chocolate Fantasy! All paired with wines.

The menu's cover featured the 30th celebration painting "Onward and Upward" I had been commissioned to create by Patrick for the occasion, but the surprise was how it was turned into the focal point of the ballroom on what had to be the largest big screen I have ever seen outside of a stadium.

Patrick O'Connell soon took to the stage for a moving speech followed by a toast, having the crowd raising their many glasses of Champaign and he, a shot of Irish Whiskey. The toast then gave way to Patrick introducing NBC's Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Andrea Mitchell, as the evening's Mistress of Ceremonies.

Of the many kind words she spoke about Patrick and the Inn, "being seduced by his food" and "the embodiment of all things romantic", she would share of the Inn being the special place where she and husband Alan Greenspan would be married. Tim Zagat and chef Charlie Trotter also spoke from the heart about our world renowned Virginia chef and I thought to myself, "he could have built his Inn anywhere, but he didn't, it's right here".

As our taste buds were being rolled over like a "dalmatian" having its belly scratched, fellow table guest and auctioneer, Fred Reger took to the stage after a passionate speech by Five and Alive founder Kate Roberts. One by one, the three live auction items rolled through Fred's "humina, humina, humina, sold!" sequence, with supporters giving heavy to the cause, but remember I mentioned a surprise?

As Fred mentioned this surprise, the six previously mentioned star chefs took to the stage. As it turns out, just hours earlier the group had come up with an idea to auction off the services of their personal restaurant chefs to come to the winning bidder's house to prepare what one could only imagine as the meal of meals, for 12 guests!

Well, that's where it started, but as Fred's enthusiastic auctioneering phrases had the bidders in the $25,000 range, Charlie Trotter took Fred's microphone and raised the guest list to 16. The bidding resumed, only to have Trotter again and again, continue adding ingredients to the pot! So much so, that it was hard to keep track. Additions went something like this: Their chefs can come to your house, or then Daniel Boulud offered to have it at his home in New York. The Ritz Carlton then offered to throw in a top suite for a week in N.Y., which then became, if you have the dinner at your house, you still can have a week at any Ritz, anywhere! That was followed by each of the six offering a magnum of wine from their personal wine cellars and that was then followed by dinner for four at each of their restaurants! With each item being added, the bidding would energetically rise, $85,000., then 90, 95, 100 and finally ending, "SOLD! $105,000."

Talk about giving back, but the night was still young. There were still awards to give out to America's Culinary Pioneers. The lights grew dim and a film made in partnership with VISA began. The film not only covered the 30 years of the Inn's history and paid homage to these culinary masters in grand style. It did it with a refreshing blend of the wit and humor of Monty Python's Flying Circus, jazzy photo layered editing and all of the heart felt appreciation of a man that passionately cares for his craft. As the film ended, the silent room broke into roaring applause, only to find an unexpected gag reel, turning all to laughter.

Then one by one, the chefs took to the stage to accept their awards and with that, the fabulous celebration ended. If you missed it, the good news is, you have the rest of the year to celebrate this wonderful milestone, right at The Inn at Little Washington. It's so close, you can almost taste it!