Jamie and Bobby Deen cooking up support for Albany Museum of Art

ALBANY — Celebrity chefs Bobby and Jamie Deen will be dishing up some fine Southern cuisine in late April in the Albany Museum of Art’s fundraiser supper series, The Fine Art of Dining.

“We’re calling it ‘Take It Lighter,’” Savannah Hughes, special events manager for the Albany Museum of Art, said Tuesday. “That’s kind of their slogan. They take their mom’s (Paula Deen) recipes and make them a little healthier. We’re excited.”

The Deen brothers are Albany natives who helped their mother grow a sandwich delivery business, The Bag Lady, which she started after moving from Albany to Savannah. That business grew into a successful restaurant, The Lady & Sons, which opened in Savannah in 1989. The national exposure the restaurant received launched successful TV careers for the Deens.

Jamie and Bobby Deen starred together in “Road Tasted” on the Food Network. Jamie Deen now has “Home For Dinner with Jamie Deen” on Food Network, while Bobby Deen has “Not My Mama’s Meals” on the Cooking Channel and hosts holiday baking competition on Food Network. They have co-authored four cookbooks and each has a solo book — Jamie Deen’s “Good Food” and Bobby Deen’s “From Mama’s Table to Mine.” They also have a line of spices, barbecue sauces and T-shirts that are sold at the Paula Deen Store and at PaulaDeen.com.

The AMA event, scheduled for April 22, will be at the home of Cathy and Alton Darby. Hughes said 18 of the tickets, which are $250 per person (AMA members get a $50 discount), have been sold. AMA officials had planned to limit the dinner to 34 total, but Hughes said they may be able to add a few more seats.

“It is a four-course meal with wine and great service,” Hughes said. “It’s carefully planned out to be a real spectacular experience.”

While the museum, which was destroyed by the Jan. 2 storm that ravaged portions of Albany, has been raising funds to reopen, this is part of the second year of a regular fall-to-spring AMA fundraising series with hosted dinners featuring food prepared by accomplished chefs.

The museum, which did not lose any artwork to the storm damage, has been closed since January, but Hughes said it was important to make sure the public knows the organization is still functioning as it works toward recovery.

“We really do need to keep ourselves exposed to the public,” she said. “We’re still doing things. We’re not going into hiding until we have a new museum open. In that respect, this is a little different, but it’s a fundraiser to help the museum.”

Those who want to attend the fundraiser can make reservations by calling the AMA at (229) 439-8400. Tickets can be purchased over the phone. Because it’s a fundraiser, reservations are not confirmed until payment is received, Hughes noted.

Information on the supper series can be found at the AMA’s website, www.albanymuseum.com/supper-series.html. The Deen brothers’ webiste is www.thedeenbros.com.