Back to Broadway coming to Niche

I love hearing about all the fun events planned at Niche Restaurant in Geneva. I've been reading about the place for years now and this past summer finally had an opportunity to dine there for a media event. It was by far one of my best dining experiences ever, which included one-of-a-kind dishes prepared with produce from their own farm, the Bull Run Estate in Elburn, Illinois. Here's a picture from that awesome dinner!

Today I got an e-mail about the Back to Broadway Concert Dinner Series on Tues. November 13 and Thursday, November 15. It sounds fabulous. Here's the details:

The exceptional Larry Dieffenbach, Geneva piano instructor and longtime performer at Niche, teams up with Broadway singers Matt Jones, baritone, and Candace Kless, soprano, for an evening of fine food and Broadway classics. Each of these beloved singers will perform solos from their Broadway repertoire and then join talents to sing some of the great duets from The Great White Way. The duets will include “Bess, You Is My Woman” from Porgy and Bess currently on Broadway, “Too Many Mornings” from Follies, “You are my Love” from Showboat and “Tonight” from West Side Story. 

Cocktails begin at 6:00 p.m., and dinner and the concert begin at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person, and an additional $20 for wine pairings. Diners can call Niche at (630) 262-1000 to make a reservation.

The Menu

Guests at the Broadway Concert Dinners will experience cocktails and a custom three-course meal prepared by executive chef Serena Perdue, inspired by the cool fall weather and fresh ingredients from the continuing harvest of Niche’s farm on the Bull Run Estate in Elburn, Ill. Following carrot soup made withceleriac custard, fried shallots and apple cider gastrique, guests will choose from entrées of seared skate with a romesco sauce made with almonds and

hazelnuts, or smoked Muscovy duck with parsnips. The desserts will warm and delight, and include: warm spiced hot chocolate with cookies-meringue, crackle, gingersnap, and chocolate sable; and brule banana consisting of puff pastry, vanilla pastry cream, brule banana, chocolate sauce, and peanut butter ice cream.

The Performers

Larry Dieffenbach, Candace Kless and Matt Jones perform a remarkable review of Broadway favorites. Diefenbach, from Geneva, Ill., is an extraordinary pianist and has been performing at Niche for four years in the popular “Concert Between the Courses” series. He serves on the faculty at Elgin Community College as a piano instructor and is also the music director and organist at the Little Home Church By the Wayside in Wayne, Ill.

Candace Kless graduated from Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa with a Bachelor of Music Education and Vocal Performance as well as graduate work at Roosevelt University, Chicago, Ill in vocal performance. Candace is a member of the St. Charles Singers and the Over the Hill Trio. She has also sung with 6 Singers and a Piano, Table for Five, a close-harmony quintet, and Fragments of Light, a twelve-voice gospel ensemble. Her professional theatre credits include roles in Follies, Camelot, Baby, Into the Woods, Damn Yankees, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Brigadoon, 1776, and several Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.  

St. Charles native Matt Jones has toured the world with Broadway musicals including Evita, 1776 and Showboat.  After singing with the Grant Park Symphony and Lyric Opera, Jones earned a full scholarship at Yale, and found his way to Broadway playing Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera.  After his travels, he has returned to Illinois, performing in Married Alive at Noble Fool Theatre, The Producers at The Little Theatre on the Square, and Sweeny Todd at Drury Lane Oak Brook.  He is currently appearing in The Sound of Music at Drury Lane.

About Niche

Niche is a fine dining restaurant in Geneva, Ill., serving a constantly evolving menu of American contemporary cuisine based on the freshest Midwest ingredients.  Chef Serena Perdue skillfully blends her traditional French training with her love of newly picked, seasonal products from local suppliers as well as from Niche’s own sustainable farm at The Bull Run Estate in Elburn, Ill.   Niche has earned accolades for its all-American wine list, handpicked by general manager and wine director Vince Balistreri.  With 270 different wines that highlight the best in American wine, Niche was awarded the prestigious Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator in 2010 and 2011.  Visit www.nichegeneva.com.