DURHAM, N.H. - Lovers of the University of New Hampshire's gourmet dinners will have the chance to indulge in a multi-course selection of dishes made with New Hampshire's finest maple products this December.

Organized by the hospitality management students at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics, "Maple Movements" will be held on Friday, Dec. 2, and Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, at Stillings Hall, 20 Ballard St. The evening begins with a cocktail reception and passed hors d'oeuvres at 5 p.m., with dinner and live entertainment by UNH and Seacoast-area dancers to follow.

"Guests will experience a range of maple in every dish and be introduced to multiple styles of dances. Dishes will feature a variety of fresh, local ingredients supplied from farms within the New Hampshire and Maine region, as one of our goals is to use the most sustainably produced food from local farms," said Lauren MacDonald, marketing director for Maple Movements.

In recent years, guest chefs from Seacoast-area restaurants worked with students to prepare one-of-a-kind dinner menus. This December, Dan Dumont, corporate chef at Ocean Properties, will be in the kitchen with the students as the guest chef for the gourmet dinner. Dumont is a certified master chef with American Culinary Federation, one of only 66 in the nation. He oversees the restaurants and all food service for Ocean Properties Hotels and Resorts, including The Wentworth by the Sea hotel and spa in New Castle, The Sagamore Resort in New York and the Samoset Resorts in Maine. 

Dinner attire is formal. Individual tickets are $60 per person. Tickets can be purchased on the gourmet dinner website www.wsbe.unh.edu/gourmetdinner. For more information or questions about the dinner, contact Donna Stickney at Donna.Stickney@unh.edu.

The UNH Department of Hospitality Management combines business fundamentals with classes geared toward the service industry sector. Hands-on education is a strong and integral part of the experiential and academic curriculum. The department also offers the first-ever Eco-gastronomy Program, which integrates UNH's strengths in sustainable agriculture, hospitality management, and nutrition to offer a unique academic program emphasizing the interdisciplinary, international, and experiential knowledge that connects all three fields.

The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea, and space-grant university, UNH is the state's flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.

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