Because life emphatically reveals itself to be utterly unfair at every turn in the road, the talented young chef Thaddeus Palmese is fighting cancer. Palmese has been cooking with his cousin Ted Van Doorn and Ted's wife, Heather, ever since 2005, when the pair opened the Starlight Wine Bar & Restaurant in a restored Sebastopol train caboose.To help Palmese with his ever-mounting medical bills (can anyone say "single-payer"?) and to rally the community around their adored chef and relative, the Van Doorns host an emergency benefit for him on Monday, Sept. 28, from 5pm to 8pm. To accommodate a crowd, the Sassafrass restaurant has kindly lent its space to this $25 Creole feast. Live entertainment is planned, and the Van Doorns are accepting all donations for a silent auction. Sassafrass is at 1229 N. Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa. 707.578.7600.

Those who can't attend but wish to make a donation can send checks and goodwill to the Starlight, 6761 Sebastopol Ave., Sebastopol, CA 95472.

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