What to wear to a fundraising dinner and where to get local harvested and grown food differs among towns. In most communities, such events mean dress-up and feature local food. Read this post to see what people wear in Fairbanks to such events and for an insider tip where to eat great food for cheap.
- Fairbanks Lunch Tip
- Annual Scholarship Fundraiser Is a Tradition
- What to Wear To a Fundraising Dinner
- Alaska Grown Food
- The Menu
- My Favorite
- Fueling the Audience for the Auction
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post.
Fairbanks Lunch Tip
I want to start today’s Focus Alaska post with an insider tip for a great lunch that will not ripe a whole into your travel budget, but will be incredibly different from what else you get in town.
When you visit Fairbanks on a Thursday between September and end of April, go to the Borealis Bistro for a first class lunch of Alaska grown food for $12. #traveltip Click To TweetThe Borealis Bistro is operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks culinary arts department. It is located in the James T. Hutchison High School on 3770 Geist Road. During the school year (end of August thru end of May), the UAF culinary arts students have their active cooking class on Thursdays. Note that reservations are required for seating at 11:30am, 12:00pm, and 12:30pm.


Annual Scholarship Fundraiser Is a Tradition
Every year, the department has a scholarship fundraiser. It is by invitation only, typically at the end of the semester. My husband and I were invited to attend the fundraiser. We arrived early, as I wanted to make sure that I can take photos for you of the appetizer before people start enjoying them. I also wanted to capture the ice sculptures below the would start melting in the warm sun.
What to Wear to a Fundraising Dinner
Fairbanks is not a very formal town, not even at an event like an Inaugural Ball of the Governor, and of course not, when it comes to a scholarship fundraiser. The dress code was Fairbanks Formal.
I went for a LBD with a long pearl necklace and floral pumps for the event. Most women wore some variation of a LBD or a simple solid color long gown, or short cocktail dress. Men wore business casual style or a look that would pass as Casual Friday outfits at most offices. One man wore a cutaway.

Alaska Grown Food
All dishes including the appetizer featured Alaska food. There were shushi rolls (not shown) made with salmon, beef liver paste, salmon sandwiches arranges in form of a fish (see photo above). I loved the salmon wrapped asparagus. The salmon was really chewy. The appetizer came with champagne and you could have drunken as much champagne until you dropped. However, nobody did that.
While waiting for everybody to arrive, guest caught up with old friends, enjoyed the champagne and appetizers and some nice live dinning music played on a Yamaha keyboard. Its sound was so perfect that one could think the young woman played a concert piano. However, the entrance hall to the Hutchinson Center is too small to host three tables with appetizers, one table with champagne, over 150 people, and a concert piano. In front of the entrance, there were two ice sculptures, a swan (see featured photo) and a fish (not shown). Read how ice sculptures are made.
We really enjoyed meeting some neighbors from our old neighborhood out in Goldstream whom we hadn’t seen for quite a while. after an hour of chatting, catch-up and appetizers, we were called to our tables.

The Fundraiser Menu
The dinner was a nine course menu (see photo below).
- Beet & pastrami cured salmon, sourdough rye crisps, rosehip dressing – Pinot Noir
- Roasted mushrooms, duck fat steam bun, fresh hoisin – Roederer Anderson Valley Brut
- Alaska King crab, saffron sabayon, green apples, brown butter – Argyle Williamette Valley Chardonnay
- Alaska carrot soup, whipped coconut & carrot top oil – Alexander Valley Vineyards Gewürzdraminer
- Local gin, raspberry sorbet with spruce
- Roasted hen, pearl onions, dandelion greens, cranberries & rhubarb – Pinot Noir
- Grilled venison, potato pave, romanesco, marrow – Cote du Rhone
- Mirror cake, blueberry ice cream, colored isomalt – Kiona late harvest Riesling
- Buried chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, gold accents – Bear Creek Port
All dishes featured Alaska grown or harvested food like salmon, game, mushrooms, rhubarb, potatoes, carrots, cranberries, dandelion, King crabs, blueberries, carrots. The intermezzo featured Alaska made gin. The raspberry sorbet was gin infused and the was a little smoldering spruce twig under the inverted glass. We tried to capture the flame and smoke that comes up when you lift the glass and the sudden availability of oxygen leads to s small spark and smoke. Unfortunately, it did not work. It’s hard to capture the right moment.
My Favorites
My favorites were the first three items on the menu: the salmon, Alaska King crab, and the carrot soup. I liked that the King crab was served without shell. Usually, when you order Alaska King crab it comes in a can that looks like an old oil can. It is filled with ice and the leg sticks out.
There were two desserts. For me a dessert is not an American dessert when it has no chocolate. Since my hubby doesn’t like chocolate, we decided that he would eat my first, in exchange for his chocolate dessert. Well, we hadn’t seen the last dessert yet when we agreed to switch. Believe it or not, I made it thru that huge mountain of chocolate. Did you know you know that many chefs in Alaska call chocolate crude oil?
Each course came with a matching wine. On our table of eight, there was a young pregnant woman who purred down the wine of each course.

Fueling the Audience for the Auction
Between courses several cakes, some special classes, like a Shushi making class for ten people, some special events like a tour thru the Hoodoo brewery with dinner for eight or a BBQ for 30 people as well as student-made cakes were auctioned. The carrot cake, for instance, went for $675, the raspberry strawberry decorated cake for $725. One cake was even sold for $1200. Unfortunately, I hadn’t taken a photo of that one.

I hope you enjoyed the report on one of Fairbanks’ dinning lifestyle. Do you go to scholarship fundraisers?
Focus Alaska is a series on Alaska lifestyle, events, curious things, insider travel tips, and Alaska street style.
Photos of me: G. Kramm
Photos of the food, ice sculpture, and venue location: N. Mölders
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