Students, faculty, and staff are invited inside the velvet cord and onto the red carpet for Hollywood Night, the 2005 Chef Series Premier Event, on Sunday, Feb. 27.

Guests will be treated like stars as they are served an elegant reception and four-course dinner featuring gourmet dishes prepared by Virginia Tech's award-winning culinary team. The motion picture-awards event, held in a transformed and glamorized Shultz Dining Center, begins at 5:30 p.m. with hors d'oeuvres and mocktails. The curtain is raised for dinner at 6:30 p.m.

The reception features non-alcoholic appeltini, raztini and pink flamingo beverages; sushi; and assorted canapés. The dinner menu includes: appetizer — a tataki of shrimp and scallops with ginger sauce served with fresh cantaloupe, purple plum and pomegranate coulis; second course — tamarind-glazed lamb loin chop with a dried apricot relish; main course — grilled Kobe New York strip steak and broiled lobster tail served with lobster mashed potatoes, thin beans and a natural pan glaze; and dessert — fresh raspberries served in a chocolate tulip shell with white chocolate mousse and a strawberry balsamic sauce. The vegetarian entrée option is grilled portabella mushroom lasagna with fresh tomatoes and basil served with thin beans and potato gnocchi.

Guests will have the chance to meet their chefs, who have each prepared a featured menu item. "This annual event is a fantastic opportunity for our students to expand their horizons, to enjoy an extraordinary gourmet experience. It also provides our chefs an arena to show what they can do. We can count on another stellar performance from our highly talented culinary staff," said Rick Johnson, director of Housing and Dining Services.

Three lucky students will be randomly selected to win glamorous door prizes at Hollywood Night — a digital video recorder, a 20 gig iPod, and a DVD-R.

All students are invited to vote for the Hokademy Awards — Virginia Tech's picks for this year's best picture, best director, best actor and actress and best supporting actor and actress. To cast your vote, go to http://www.studentprograms.vt.edu/hollywood/ by 5 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21, to be entered to win the Big Shot Prize: two tickets to the Hollywood Night dinner, a limousine ride to and from the dinner, and a gift certificate for spa services. Hokademy Award winners will be announced the first week of March.

Meals Plus dining plans, Flex plans ($3.45), Dining Dollars and Hokie Passport accounts ($11.00) are accepted. The complete menu, nutritional information, chef biographies and reservations are available online at http://www.studentprograms.vt.edu/hollywood/. Reservations must be made online by Friday, February 18, at 5:00 p.m., and are limited to the first 250 guests.

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