Fresh Sheet: Meals to benefit literacy program

Dish up for literacy next Thursday.

Eat at one of five area restaurants Sept. 24 and a portion of the proceeds that day will benefit Page Ahead Children’s Literacy Program.

Page Ahead is a local nonprofit that provides more than 10,000 new books each year to children in the Spokane area who are at risk for illiteracy. This year, it plans to give 13,668 new books to 4,405 children in Spokane County.

Here are the participating restaurants:

Azteca – Northpointe, 9738 N. Newport Highway, and Spokane Valley, 14700 E. Indiana Ave.

Hills’ Restaurant and Lounge – 401 W. Main St. (lunch only)

Laguna Café – 4302 S. Regal St.

Perry Street Café – 1002 S. Perry St.

Also, for the rest of the month customers can add a “literacy shot” to a drink at Laguna Café and a portion the money raised will also benefit Page Ahead’s Books for Kids. For more information about the program go to www.pageahead.org.

Bacon Jam, baby

“Top Chef” contender Kevin Gillespie may call Georgia home, but he made a short stop at one of Spokane’s restaurants.

Gillespie briefly served in the kitchen at Luna in the fall of 2007 after working for restaurants in Portland, Ore. and before returning to his Southern home. He’s the executive chef and partner at Woodfire Grill in Atlanta.

He was the winner of a recent Quickfire challenge on the Bravo television reality show with his Snail Fricassee with Bacon Jam and Parsley Puree. Watch the video of him preparing the dish at www.bravotv.com/top-chef.

Catch the show Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on Bravo.

Goodbye Neo

Café Neo, 10208 N. Division St., has closed its doors.

Owners Kara and Scott Cook say in a message posted on the restaurant’s Web site that they tried to hang on as long as possible, but the cost of doing business and the poor economy did them in.

Café Neo gift cards will be accepted at sister restaurant Ambrosia Bistro and Wine Bar, 9211 E. Montgomery Ave., in Spokane Valley through the end of the month.