SECOND ANNUAL NYC MARINE MESS NIGHT

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The 2009 Annual New York City Marines Corps Mess Night Dinner will feature a faithful recreation of a menu last served in London in 1920 and attended by Winston Churchill. The event on June 30, 2009 at the New York City Athletic Club will raise funds for the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation and the National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction. Presiding over the preparation are three of Manhattan’s top chefs.
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Mess Night will honor:


New York Police Officer Susan Porcello for demonstrating the best of the Marine Corps Spirit.

The Strassburger Family for consistent support for our fighting men and women.

Comedian Scott Kennedy for consistent and untiring support for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Detective Ming Li from the 5th Precinct in China Town for his outstanding humanitarian kindness to a former Marine.

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Agostino Von Hassell With Former Marine Author And food

Historian John J. Shirley, Executive Chef New York Athletic
Club And Lucas Billheimer, Parlor Steakhouse

Cooking 400 steaks dinners to order for a ravenous bunch of Marines and their supporters is a tall order. Former Marine, food historian, author and businessman Agostino von Hassell as befitting the gyrene tradition is ready to follow that order down to the very last scrumptious, meaty morsel. He will prepare and recreate an extravagant meal prepared by the Marine Corps to honor Winston Churchill served in 1920! And he’s invited nearly 400 of his nearest and dearest friends, including NYC top cop police commissioner and former Marine Ray Kelly, to join him on the last day of June, 2009. The occasion is the second annual NYC Marines Mess Night dinner to be held at the celebrated New York Athletic Club overlooking Central Park. The iconic venue sports one of the rare city smoking balconies where cigars and cognac are served at the conclusion of the meal and diners can transport themselves back to a time when the city's pace was a little more leisurely and life perhaps a bit less complicated (or twittered). So what is a Mess Night anyway? It’s a tradition that dates back hundreds of years where military and civilians partake in a ceremonial meal with many speeches, fines for violating rules like chewing gum, speaking out of turn, saying anything political or even going to the rest room without permission. In present times, this event, where the hosts serve their finest foods and wines is used as a fundraiser for worthy charity concerns and as a means of honoring individuals and organizations who have contributed to causes and philanthropies near and dear to the hearts of the U.S. Marine Corps. Because whether it is 1920 or 2009, a hero is still a hero.

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Tickets: $700 per person; $7000 per table.$175 for the reception only (from 6:00 – 7:30 pm). Additional ticket price ranges are available. Active duty military sponsorships are accepted. Black Tie. Tickets may be purchased online at www.nycmcc.org. For additional information contact NYC Marine Council President Jeff Carusone at action@nycmcc.org.