LEWISTON — The third annual harvest reception and tasting, a major fundraiser for the Lewiston Education Fund, will be held Oct. 2 at Fish Bones American Grill in the Bates Mill complex.

The cost is $75 per person, which sounds pricey. But a look at the menu could help loosen the wallets of frugal foodies.

The menu, created by Fish Bones owner and head chef Paul Landry and his staff, includes five courses. Servings in each course will be “like two or three bites, more like a tasting. We don’t want to fatten everyone,” Landry said.

The first course: spinach, artichokes and goat cheese crisp served with pinot grigio wine or Allagash White beer. The beer and wine will only be an ounce at each serving, Landry said.

Second course: harvest chicken and sweet potato ravioli with dried cranberry, sage and Asiago cream. The wine will be chardonnay, the beer, Portland’s Shipyard Pumpkin Ale.

Third course: shrimp, prosciutto and mozzarella wrapped in a pastry offered with a roasted tomato marinara. The wine will be Chianti; the beer, Lewiston’s Baxter Stowaway.

Fourth course: blueberry chipotle glaze on a boneless short rib with root vegetable hash. The wine will be cabernet sauvignon, the beer from Bar Harbor Brewing.

Fifth course: a stuffed apple crisp with vanilla bean ice cream and caramel sauce, with a shooter from White Rock Distilleries. “It’s a whole apple wrapped in pastry stuffed with caramel sauce,” Landry said.

Much of the food and drink comes from Maine. “We try to work the local angle,” he said. “All the beer we’re pouring is from Maine.”

He estimated it would take about two hours to roll out the food, which will be “plated,” the industry word for sit down at tables and waiters and waitresses will bring the food to you.

As the food is being served, silent auctions and other activities will be held, he said.

“I was a member of the Lewiston Education Fund,” Landry said. “I am a big fan of their mission and what they’re accomplishing.”

The fund is a private, nonprofit group that raises money for Lewiston schools. It provides students with opportunities that the school budget can’t, such as field trips, vegetable gardens and snowshoes, Superintendent Bill Webster said.

“I can’t say enough about how critical LEF is to expanding the horizons of our students,” he said.

The reception has sold out the past two years. Some tickets are still available. For more information, email [email protected], or call LEF board member Amie Parker at 753-6956.