All this for $18 . . . and this, too!

THE NEW REALITY | We asked chef Hugh Amano to create not one, but two, dinner party menus for six guests -- each costing $3 a head. How did he do it?

While some have groused about the Art Institute of Chicago's recent decision to raise its admission fee to $18, we, naturally, got to thinking about how far that amount would go in the kitchen.

Feeling festive, we wondered, is it possible to throw a dinner party for six on an $18 budget? We asked Hugh Amano, the former executive sous chef at Uncommon Ground, to help us answer that question.

Amano, you see, is the prime candidate for this sort of thing. The 33-year-old was laid off from the Edgewater coffeehouse-cum-restaurant in November, and he's since been scrimping and saving.

In December, Amano started writing a blog titled, fittingly, Food on the Dole (www.foodonthedole. blogspot.com). It's a charming, contemplative look at, as he says, "staying well-fed and eating delicious food while on limited means."

On New Year's Eve, this meant making a big, fat pot of spaghetti and meatballs for three guests in his Edgewater apartment -- total cost: about 12 bucks -- when others with the means and the appetite were indulging in prix-fixe menus for $100 a head, or more.

"Things are so much cheaper when you make them," Amano says. "It's all about the message that not only can you eat well with little money, but that anybody can know how to cook."

In that spirit, he agreed to our challenge. And then, we laid out the ground rules for our party:

•           Six people.

•           Booze included.

•           Pantry items (salt, flour, spices and so forth) and staples (milk, eggs, butter) excluded.

We also asked Amano to come up with not one, but two different menus -- for a seated dinner and an hors d'ouevres party.

At the outset, the booze seemed to be the biggest hurdle. There was some silence on the phone when we confirmed that, no, our fictional guests wouldn't be bringing the wine.

But the chef wheels started turning, and before long we had a plan.

We shopped at two stores Amano frequents in his neighborhood, Jewel-Osco and a small market called Edgewater Produce. Amano did some impromptu menu tweaking while in the aisles ("Realistically, if I were doing this for six friends, I would probably shop first and then create the menu," he says).

The grand totals? Five cents over budget for our seated dinner and 23 cents under budget for the grazing menu.

Amano got cooking. Here's how he pulled it off.

--Menu 1--

Easy Italian

Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna

Homemade Bread

Red Leaf Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette

Lemon-Butter Cookies

Chianti

--Menu 2--

A Nibbler's Night In

Pork Rillettes and Crostini

Marinated Eggplant

Crudites of Jicama, Carrot, Broccoli, Green Pepper and Haricots Verts

Roasted Onion and Mustard Dip

Banana Cream Pudding

Homemade Spiked Ginger Ale

Groceries for Menu 1 -- Easy Italian

1 bag shredded mozzarella $2.00

1 box lasagna sheets 1.67

2 (14.5-ounce) cans tomatoes 1.60

1 Spanish onion .50

2 poblano peppers .42

1 cucumber .35

1 eggplant .91

2 zucchini .75

1 head red leaf lettuce 1.49

1 head garlic .10

1 lemon .25

3-pack dry yeast 1.49

1 (1.5L) bottle Livingston Cellars chianti 5.49

Tax 1.03

Total $18.05

Groceries for Menu 2 -- A Nibbler's Night In

1 pound boneless pork roast $2.05

Green beans .83

1 serrano pepper .04

3 broccoli crowns 1.24

1 eggplant 1.05

1 green pepper 1.08

1 knob ginger root 1.03

1 jicama .65

1 head garlic .10

1 carrot .66

1 lemon .25

4 bananas .75

1 package roasted chickpeas 1.32

1 (2-liter) bottle club soda .79

1 (200ml) bottle Skol vodka 2.79

1 loaf French bread 2.19

Tax .95

Total $17.77