Entries associated with the tag "Slow Food Chicago":

Well, after nearly a year and a half, it's time to see how mulefoots perform on the plate.

Back when we bought our own mulefoot with the aim of following the care and feeding of one of these rare heritage pigs and eventually hosting a public snout-to-tail dinner, I knew there was one chef who'd make the most of it--Paul Kahan. To my great delight, not only has Kahan agreed to cook for us (even in the midst of the frenzy surrounding the opening of his new restaurant, the Publican), but he's enlisted a formidable lineup of talent to help out. 

On Sunday, October 19, Kahan will be joined at Blackbird by Paul Virant of Vie, Jason Hammel and Amalea Tshilds of Lula, Blackbird's Mike Sheerin, Avec's Justin Large, and the Publican's Brian Huston in preparing a six-course mulefoot pig dinner--and you're invited.

Tickets are $125 (including wine but not tax or tip). It all starts with a champagne reception at 6, followed by dinner at 6:30. Proceeds benefit Kahan's choice of Slow Food Chicago. 

Blackbird, 619 W. Randolph, is taking reservations now at 312-715-0708.

Note: The Reader's pig, Dee Dee--for a variety of reasons I'll get into in an upcoming post--has won herself a reprieve from the dinner table. Instead Valerie Weihman-Rock will be providing three third-generation mulefoots--possibly Dee Dee's offspring--for the dinner. In the coming weeks we'll be following the pigs and the proceedings--from the farm, to the slaughterhouse, to the kitchen--right here on the blog.

In the meantime, if you want to catch up, see the entries in the whole Whole Hog Project posted in chronological order.

Friday from 6:30 to 9 PM, Viet Bistro and Lounge hosts a free tasting of spirits from North Shore Distillery, including gin, vodka, and the new Sirène absinthe; mixologist Rashed Islam will serve samples of two new martinis he’s created with North Shore spirits, and chef-owner Dan Nguyen will make appetizers. Reservations required.

Alliance Française hosts a cooking class with ingredients from Green City Market Saturday; participants will meet at 9 AM at the market in Lincoln Park to shop for organic lamb, tomatoes, French green beans, and early-fall apples. They'll then head to the Alliance Française kitchen to make tomato soup, roasted lamb with vegetable garnish, and an apple cake. $85, $75 members.

The Oak Park Micro Brew and Food Review, Saturday from 3 to 7 PM on Marion Street between Lake and North, features 50 craft beers from 15 local breweries, including Metropolitan, Two Brothers, and Goose Island, as well as locally sourced food from Oak Park restaurants like the new Marion Street Cheese Market, Trattoria 225, and Buzz Cafe. All disposable materials used at the event will be compostable or recyclable. A VIP event from 2 to 3 PM at Marion Street Cheese Market (100 S. Marion) includes a tour of the new eco-friendly facility, tapping of "select" microbrews, and samples of sustainable specialty cheeses. $35, $65 for VIP tickets.

The Whole Foods FlavorFest returns Saturday from 11 AM to 9 PM and Sunday from 11 AM to 8 PM at Webster and Racine, with free samples of natural foods, live music, kids' activities, and cooking demos from local chefs including Dean Zanella of 312 Chicago, Bruce Sherman of North Pond, and Jason Hammel of Lula Cafe.

Purple Asparagus, a nonprofit dedicated to "bringing families back to the table" by promoting good eating, hosts "Corks and Crayons," a fund-raiser dinner, Sunday from 4 to 7 PM at Webster's Wine Bar. In addition to food including specialty pizzas, crab cakes, and tandoori chicken kebabs, there'll be wine for the adults, plus live and silent auctions and kids' activities. $65 adults, $25 kids 13-18, $15 kids 2-12, free kids under 2 (members $60/$20/$12).

Slow Food Chicago also has a fund-raiser BBQ dinner Sunday, at 6 PM at Kendall College, to honor Chicagoland delegates to this year's Terra Madre, a Slow Food conference in Italy. Kendall students will cook and serve smoked meats and side dishes. $20.

Willis P. Jenkins, Allá, and Tirra Lirra play a fund-raiser at the Empty Bottle for the Dill Pickle Food Co-op Wednesday at 9:30 PM. The Logan Square community-owned grocery store, which now has 255 members, is slated to open at 3039 W. Fullerton by March 2009. $12, $10 in advance.

Scoozi’s annual Tomato Fest starts Friday with a wine tasting ($20) and three-course “tomato-inspired dinner” from 6 to 8 PM ($50 for the wine tasting and dinner package). A market Saturday from 9 AM to 2 PM features locally grown heirloom tomatoes and green tomato apple pies as well as bread, fresh pasta, greens, and cheese; chefs John Chiakulas and Eric Young will give cooking demos using tomatoes. Sunday is for the kids (up to age 12), with a tomato stomp and pizza making from 4 to 6:30 PM.

The BBQ & Blues Summer Bash at Sheffield's, Saturday from noon to 6 PM, includes all-you-can-eat house-smoked ribs, pork, and chicken and unlimited craft beer, plus blues by Howard and the White Boys. $20. 

Mahoney's Pub and Grille (551 N. Ogden, 312-733-2121) hosts a "Beer Olympics" Sunday from noon to 10 PM with pub sports like Beer Pong, Flippy Cup, Cornhole, and Quarters, as well as Ping-Pong and pool. Scoring won't be based on alcohol consumption (which is optional) but on a point system; the first place team gets an all-expenses paid trip by limo to Chinatown for dinner at Won Kow restaurant. Teams of six can register until noon Sunday. $100 per team.

A Slow Food Chicago dinner at Le Lan Monday at 6 PM features bobwhite quail with spiced carrot puree and blueberry-balsamic reduction among the four courses, all with wine pairings. $75.

Goose Island's Lincoln Park location hosts a brewmaster dinner to benefit Green City Market Monday at 6:30 PM. Chefs including Paul Virant of Vie, Dean Zanella of 312 Chicago, and Paul Kahan of the Publican (which is apparently slated to open the same day) will prepare dishes like goat milk ricotta gnocchi with zucchini blossoms, yellow tomatoes, and pancetta. Each menu item will be paired with a Goose Island beer. $150.

Executive chef Michael Grieb and wine director Mark Wrobel of Fox & Obel and Brad Fuller of Paramount Merchants lead a BBQ and Beer Class Tuesday from 6 to 7 PM at Fox & Obel, pairing six craft brews with samples of “BBQ-inspired foods” from the store. Among the offerings: Napa cabbage and Granny Smith apple slaw with Blanche de Bruxelles, chicken and mango quesadillas with New Holland Zoomer Wheat Ale, and Gunthorp Farms pulled pork panini with Abita Amber Ale. $20.

Tim Laird, “Chief Entertaining Officer” of Brown-Forman Corporation, presents Mistology: The Science Behind the Cocktail, Wednesday from 7 to 9 PM at the Mid-America Club's Aon Center (200 E. Randolph, 80th fl.). He’ll address enigmas like how to keep carbonation in champagne and why bartenders always pour in alcohol before the mixer, as well as taking questions. After the presentation participants can practice mixing cocktails and nosh on appetizers. All proceeds go to the human rights organization Heartland Alliance. $15.

The Festival of Cheese, one of just two events in the American Cheese Society's 25th annual conference and cheese competition that’s open to the public, takes place 5:30-9 PM Saturday at the Hilton Chicago (720 S. Michigan). It features tastings of more than 1,000 artisan and specialty cheeses from producers all over North America—among them Capriole from Indiana, Everona Dairy from Virginia, Redwood Hill Farm from California, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese from Washington, and Rogue Creamery from Oregon—plus wine, beer, and specialty foods. $85.

The American Cheese Society’s cheese sale from 10 AM-1 PM Sunday at Kendall College (900 N. North Branch) will have offerings from all the producers at Saturday’s festival at what it promises will be “rock-bottom prices.”

Prefer a little less cheese and a little more beer? Rock Bottom Brewery (1 W. Grand) hosts Curds and Ale II from 2:30-5:30 PM on Sunday, with 20 American artisan cheeses (many purchased at the sale) and 20 American craft beers from breweries including Three Floyds, Two Brothers, and Dogfish Head. The focus will be on pairings of clothbound cheddars (in the tradition of English farmhouse cheddar) with British-inspired bitters and ales and stinky cheeses with wild-fermented Belgian-style beers. $35.

Pastoral Artisan Cheese's Loop location (53 E. Lake) is hosting special events to coincide with the ACS's conference. On Thursday at 3:30 PM San Francisco Chronicle cheese columnist Janet Fletcher, a CIA grad, will be signing copies of her latest book, Cheese and Wine: A Guide to Selecting, Pairing, and Enjoying; cheese and wine selections from the book will be served. On Friday at 3:30 PM sample some cow's and goat's milk cheeses from Ann Arbor's Zingerman's Creamery; Zingerman's cheese maker John Loomis will attend. Both events are free. 

Slow Food Chicago hosts a four-course dinner 6 PM Monday at Uncommon Ground (1401 W. Devon) featuring fruit from Seedling fruit farm in South Haven, Michigan; each course is paired with a wine or spirit. Chilled melon soup with mint creme fraiche, for instance, comes with a shot of melon-infused North Shore vodka, while a terrine of red raspberry, black raspberry, and honey-vanilla bean gelato with peach puree is accompanied by a house-made honey-peach cordial fizz. There’ll also be a tour of the cafe’s rooftop organic garden and jazz by the Ted Sirota Trio. $65.

Evanston's Va Pensiero (1566 Oak Ave.) and the Land Connection host their Summer Abundance Dinner Saturday at 6:30 PM, featuring fresh produce from the organic and sustainable Henry's Farm, in central Illinois. The vegetarian three-course meal features a caramelized onion tart with Tallegio cheese, roasted garlic-hot pepper crostini, and a grilled vegetable napoleon with candied garlic and spicy beet puree; the cost includes wine service and an hors d'oeuvres reception. Henry Brockman, the farm's owner, will be selling produce at the dinner; his sister, Land Connection founder Terra Brockman, will discuss the group's efforts to promote sustainable farming in Illinois. Reservations required; 847-475-7779. $80. 

In Fine Spirits (5420 N. Clark) hosts a second Return of the Green Fairy tasting seminar, its celebration of absinthe's recent legalization, on Tuesday from 7:30-9pm. Sonja Kassebaum of North Shore Distillery will be back to discuss the mystique surrounding absinthe as well as its history and uses. Three types of absinthe--North Shore's Sirene Absinthe Verte, Kübler Swiss Absinthe Superieure, and Saint George Spirits' Absinthe Verte--and absinthe-based cocktails will be paired with tastings. $36. 

Festa Pasta Vino, a celebration of Italian food and culture featuring food from area restaurants, cooking demos, and parades, starts Thursday from 5-11 PM at 24th and Oakley in Little Tuscany. It continues Friday from 5 PM to midnight, Saturday from noon to midnight, and Sunday from noon to 9 PM. 

Slow Food Chicago leads the 26th Street Neighborhood Food Adventure, a culinary tour starting from the Little Village Arches in front of Panaderia La Baguette (3117 W. 26th), Saturday at 10 AM. $20, $15 members.

The Irving Park Community Food Pantry  hosts the 23rd annual Hunger Walk, which benefits food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters that are member agencies of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Saturday at 9:30 AM (registration begins at 8 AM). Walkers leave from Montrose Harbor for a five-kilometer stroll along the lakefront; they're encouraged to collect at least $50 each in donations.

Locavore was declared the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary, but if you’re still not clear on how to be one, Robert Gardner, founding member of LTHForum.com (where he’s known as Vital Information), explains in Be a Locavore, Put More Local on Your Table, Saturday at 10 AM at Kendall College (900 N. North Branch). He’ll cover not only what to look for at farmers’ markets but also how to find local produce once the markets close for the winter. $2.

West Lakeview Liquors has a free tasting of Rowan's Creek Bourbon, Noah's Mill Bourbon, and Edradour single malt scotch Saturday from 6 to 9 PM. 

The new Bronzeville Community Market, which offers exotic produce and prepared foods as well as locally grown products, starts Sunday from 10 AM to 3 PM at Cottage Grove and 44th. There'll be a wellness area with a chiropractor and health screenings every week, and an antiques market on the second Sunday of every month. The market will continue every Sunday through October 26. 

The Halsted Tastes Better street fair, Monday from 6 to 9 PM at Aldine and Halsted, showcases food from restaurants including Ann Sather, Chicago Diner, Firefly, Las Mañanitas, and Yoshi’s Cafe, and features cooking demos from Whole Foods chef Abe Conlon and the Hearty Boys (aka Steve McDonagh and Dan Smith), music from the Jazz Couture ensemble, and “Run for the Rosé,” a contest where servers “test their wine pouring and carrying skills.” $30 ($25 in advance).

Monday from 6 to 8 PM, Mon Ami Gabi holds a tasting of 25 French wines for $25; there'll also be hors d'oeuvres.

Our Daily Bread, a 2005 documentary by Austrian filmmaker Nikolaus Geyrhalter about food production in a world of high-tech agriculture, screens Monday at 7 PM at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum as part of its free Labor Film Series. A discussion follows.

Catherine Friend signs The Compassionate Carnivore, her guide to farms (organic, sustainable, conventional, factory) and food labels (organic, grass-fed, grain-fed), Wednesday at 7:30 PM at Women & Children First. The book also discusses how animals are raised for meat and how to effect change in the industry.

Saturday at 10 AM at Kendall College (900 N. North Branch), the Chicago Foodways Roundtable presents Chef Louis Szathmáry and "The Bakery" Restaurant, a talk by Barbara Kuck on the Hungarian immigrant who founded the longtime Chicago institution. $3. 

Pastoral will be serving free duck foie gras on homemade crostini at both its Lakeview (2945 N. Broadway, 11 AM-7 PM) and Loop (53 E. Lake, noon-6 PM) locations this Saturday in an impromptu celebration of the city's repeal of the foie gras ban--never mind that the repeal doesn't go into effect till later this month. This may be your last chance to taste the forbidden liver while it's still forbidden; after that it's just controversial like before. 

The Drinking and Writing Brewery celebrates American Craft Beer Week with the second annual Beerfly Alleyfight, a “tri-pairing” of beer, food, and art, Saturday from 1-5 PM at Rock Bottom Brewery (1 E. Grand). Ten home brewers will bring a beer and food pairing, and a local artist will “interpret” each entry “in an ass-kickin’, alleyfight way” in a boxing ring. The artists include Neo-Futurists Jay Torrence and Diana Slickman, dancer Mindy Meyers, potter Marla Seibold, and the musical duo Twang Bang.

The annual Rare Breeds Show at Garfield Farm Museum, near Geneva, is Sunday from 11 AM to 4 PM. This year it features Don Schrider of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, who'll lead a seminar on rare chicken breeding and selection Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM ($20, reservations required). At the show itself, owners of rare breeds like fainting goats (pictured), Babydoll Southdown sheep, and miniature Hereford cattle will show and discuss their animals. $6 adults, $3 children under 13.

The Chicago History Museum's Exploring Chicago's Yeast Side: A History of Beer, a boat tour with Berghoff beer provided, is Sunday from 6:30 to 9 PM, leaving from the Chicago Line Cruises dock at North Pier, 465 N. McClurg Court. $45 ($40 members).

Sunday from 4-7 PM at Weegee's (3659 W. Armitage), mixologists and Slow Foodies Allen Katz and Bridget Albert host Slow Food Chicago’s benefit "Consider the Cocktail," “a slow celebration of the repeal of Prohibition.” During an evening of “fine drink, long tales, and festive camaraderie” (plus hors d’oeuvres), they’ll give a talk and demonstration on our country’s contributions to the art of imbibing. Proceeds go to Slow Food USA. $50, reservations required.

Tours of the Rick Bayless Organic Garden—a mix of traditional and raised beds, containers, and indoor garden spaces on three adjacent Bucktown lots—begin Wednesday, 6:30-7:30 PM. Bill Shores, who manages the garden, will discuss the chef’s outdoor kitchen, commercial organic vegetable garden, and worm composting systems as well as what’s in season now (salad greens). Additional tours are scheduled for June 11, July 16 and 23, August 13, and September 10. E-mail for reservations and address. $20.

Zinfandel Advocates and Producers is holding a tasting with wineries including Gnarly Head, Peachy Canyon, and Rancho Zabaco at the Mid-America Club Tuesday from 6:30-8:30 PM. $45.

A couple of late-breaking events: 

Slow Food Chicago's Holiday Potluck Party and Slow Food Nation Fundraiser is Tuesday from 6-9 PM at the French Pastry School. Bring a dish for six; there'll be Candid wine, Goose Island beer, and tours of the school. $10 for members, $20 for nonmembers. 

High Tea and Astrology at the Hansen House Mansion, Sunday from 3:30-5 PM, combines a traditional high tea and a discussion conducted by astrologer Sonja Foxe. The place cards are AstroGizmos, name tags “keyed into the individual’s astrosocial energies,” and Foxe promises to seat guests next to “others whose communication factor is compatibly placed” based on their astrological data. In addition to finger sandwiches and desserts the menu will include “blooming tea,” which unfurls like a blossom when immersed. Reserve by Thursday 12/6, and include the time, place, and date of your birth as well as the name--or avatar--you want on your AstroGizmo. $25.

The Scotch Malt Whisky Society hosts a tasting of more than 60 rare single-malt scotches Thursday at 6:30 PM at the Union League Club of Chicago. The $120 admission fee ($105 for SMWS members) includes a dinner buffet  and premium cigars. Reservations required. 

Thursday at 6 PM, chef Christopher Prosperi of the Connecticut restaurant Metro Bis will prepare a three-course tasting and demonstration menu for Cooking With Heart II, a benefit for the Gerber/Hart library. It's at the Whole Foods Market on Halsted, and tickets are $50 per person.

The Royster with the Oyster festival at Shaw's Crab House kicks off Friday with a party at the Schaumburg location from 5:30-7:30 featuring free oysters with the purchase of any Goose Island beer. Oyster Week begins Monday at both locations with nightly oyster-slurping contests, live blues performances, and fresh cold-water oysters on the half shell ($11.95 a dozen, $6.50 for a half). The event culminates Friday, October 19, with a tent party at the Chicago location. From 3 to 10 PM live bands will accompany a shucking competition and the "National Championship Slurp-Off." The party's $10.

Saturday at 10 AM, the Chicago Foodways Roundtable hosts a talk at Kendall College on Learning to Cook in 1898: a Chicago Culinary Memoir, presented by author Eleanor Hudera Hanson and editor Ellen F. Steinberg. Part cookbook, part biography, the book recounts the efforts of a young Jewish housewife living in Chicago at the turn of the century to educate herself about cooking and nutrition. It costs $2.

Alphabet Jell-O, a Rice Krispie treat shaped like a high heel—anything’s possible at the Roosevelt branch library’s Tasteful Reading: Edible Books and Afternoon Tea, Saturday from 1-3 PM. All ages are invited to create an edible "book," which can be any food-based concoction inspired by a favorite novel, story, or poem. Participants won’t get to taste their favorites, but they can vote on them over tea and cookies. Register in advance to submit a design.

The Efferfest World Sparkling Wine Festival, Saturday from 3-6 PM at Pops for Champagne, features more than 30 sparklers from around the world as well as appetizers and Brazilian jazz by Trio Mare. It's $50 per person.

Lake Side Cafe celebrates its two-year anniversary Saturday with free samples in the afternoon, an organic vegan buffet from 6-8 PM, and live music and poetry readings at 8:30. Tickets for the buffet and performances are $18 in advance, $20 at the door.

The final cook-off for Ballo's Just Roll With It meatball contest is Sunday at 11 AM, followed by a public tasting and festivities at 2 PM.

Slow Food Chicago hosts an apple dinner Monday at 6:30 at Hot Chocolate. Each of the four courses features a different type of apple from Seedling Fruit and is paired with a Goose Island beer (even dessert). It's $65, not including tax or tip. 

Pastoral offers a class on unpasteurized cheese Tuesday at 7:30 with Judy Schad of Capriole, the Indiana producer of farmstead goat cheeses. 

Fulton's on the River marks the beginning of stone crab season with a four-course dinner Wednesday at 6 to benefit Chicago Parkways. Chef Rick DeLeon plans to go along on a crabbing expedition in Key West to personally choose the stone crab claws. The dinner costs $95 and includes wine pairings. 

Chez Panisse's Alice Waters, champion of local and seasonal cuisine, does Chicago:

• Today at 3 PM, she'll be at Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook for a sold-out book signing with appetizers served.
• She's signing her new book, The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes From a Delicious Revolution, at the Michigan Avenue Borders tomorrow at 7 PM.
• At 6 PM Friday, Waters is the featured guest at a reception and five-course dinner at Kendall College to benefit Slow Food Nation and Slow Food Chicago. Tickets are $150.
• Green City Market hosts her 9 AM Saturday book signing.
• At 11:30 AM Saturday, she'll attend a sold-out farm-to-table brunch at North Pond Restaurant. 
• And finally, Saturday at 2:30 PM Waters will give a talk and read excerpts from her new book at Northwestern University's Thorne Auditorium. Audience questions and a book signing will follow. Tickets are $10.

For its France vs. the Rest of the World showdown Thursday at 7 PM, the French Wine Society will select one French wine made from each of eight major wine grapes (e.g., sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, syrah) for comparison with a wine of that grape from anywhere else in the world. Wines will be selected from Chicago-area wine stores and retail for $25 (whites) or $35 (reds). Attendees will blind taste the wines, try to identify which is which, and vote for their favorites. It costs $55 for members, $65 for nonmembers.

Can you list the first-growth chateaus of Bordeaux? The Ultimate Wine IQ Challenge this Saturday and Sunday from 12-4 PM at Sam’s Wines & Spirits aims to separate the connoisseurs from the amateurs (no professional sommeliers allowed, though) with written and verbal tests, plus blind tastings, in three elimination rounds. It kicks off with tastings, games, and prizes, along with a written test for first-round contestants; the grand prize is a $1,000 Sam’s shopping spree. 

Swirl Wine Bar celebrates its one-year anniversary Saturday with a free cocktail and wine reception from 9-10:30 PM. There'll also be hors d'oeuvres and a flamenco performance by Ojos Gitanos at 10:30.

The craze for all things porcine reaches new heights Monday at Osteria via Stato with Swine & Wine, a prix fixe dinner at 6:30 PM introducing baconcello, a creation of wine director Adam Seger. Described as “indescribable, like an infused vodka that’s both smoky and a bit sweet,” it will be served as an aperitif to a five-course meal with wine pairings. Featured items include pork confit crostini, Italian pork sausage with black lentils, risotto with house-cured bacon, pasta with a wild boar Bolognese, and pork chops from Gunthorp Farms. Apparently--thankfully--there’s no pig in the dessert, an almond cake with wine-poached pears and vanilla gelato. It's $69 a person.

The Chopping Block celebrates Saveur magazine's first-ever issue devoted entirely to Chicago with a hands-on tasting event at its Merchandise Mart location Wednesday at 6:30. Saveur editors and cooks featured in the Chicago issue will do cooking demonstrations of recipes from the issue, which will be available for tasting, as will wine and Goose Island beer. Tickets are $60; part of the proceeds will go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Want to do your part to fight colony collapse? At Saturday's Urban Beekeeping II workshop at Angelic Organics Learning Center aspiring beekeepers will learn methods for harvesting, extracting, and bottling honey, organic disease control, and preparing the hive for winter. Participants will also taste fresh urban honey, which is supposed to taste pretty similar to wildflower honey, although advocates claim that urban bees can produce a "richer variety" of honey because of the wide selection of plants in parks and gardens. It starts at 2 PM and costs $50; registration required.

Ballo is accepting recipe submissions for its second annual meatball contest, "Just Roll With It," through September 15. The challenge is to top the restaurant's own "Mama's Meatballs," and 10 finalists will compete in a cook-off on October 14 for the grand prize, a trip for two to Napa Valley.

Wine Compliments offers a free in-store wine tasting in conjunction with Edison Park Fest this Saturday and Sunday from 2-8 PM. The festival itself, featuring a beer garden, local food vendors, an arts and crafts fair and a dog show (plus the requisite rides, games, etc.) runs Friday from 5 PM to 11 PM, Saturday 9 AM-11 PM, and Sunday 9 AM-10 PM.

Slow Food Chicago hosts high tea this Sunday at 3:30 at Angel Food Bakery, with treats made from from stone fruits provided by Seedling. It's $19; reservations recommended.

Also Sunday, Chicago pastor and amateur chef Dominic Grassi signs Bumping into God in the Kitchen: Savory Stories of Food, Family, and Faith, a collection of fifty food-related stories plus some of his favorite recipes. The signing is at 2 PM at the Webster Place Barnes & Noble.

Osteria Via Stato's Sultry Summer Wine Fling on Wednesday is already sold out, but if you've got your heart set on sipping Italian wine and munching hors d'ouevres with master sommelier Alpana Singh and advanced sommelier Adam Seger, now might be a good time to make reservations for the next "20 for $20" wine tasting, on September 19 at 5:30 PM (or for the October 17 or November 14 dates).

If you can't wait that long to taste a couple dozen wines at once, Mon Ami Gabi has a tasting of 25 French wines for $25 (not including tax and tip) this Monday from 6 to 8 PM. Reservations are required.

And if 25 wines still isn't enough, try 30 wines for $30 this Tuesday at the Tasting Room at Randolph Wine Cellars, 6-8 PM. This month's theme is Goin' Green, and will focus on wines and winemakers that support biodiversity as well as organic and sustainable vineyard and wine-making practices. Reservations are highly recommended.

Chicago Culinary Adventures, a new social group "for those who enjoy food, wine, and culture" created by Get A Life! In the City, kicks off with a screening of Amelie at Alliance Francaise from 6:30-9:30 PM Thursday. The $45 ticket ($35 if booked in advance) includes wine, appetizers, and a goodie bag; for reservations call 1-800-495-6038.

Saturday and Sunday is the enduring, 26-year-old Maple Syrup Festival at North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski. Visitors can tap their own sugar maple, watch the sap boil for syrup, have some pancakes, enjoy music, storytelling, and a farmer’s market. It runs from 10 AM to 3 PM each day and it's free. Call 312-744-5472.

Ann Sather, 5207 N. Clark, celebrates its 20th anniversary in Andersonville with free slices of marzipan cake for every diner on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Call 773-271-6677.

Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, but some just push it to the edge . . .Geja’s Café, 340 W. Armitage, will be serving uh, green fondue and, ugh, canned Guinness. Call 773-281-9101.

More St. Pat's incongruity: 17 West at the Berghoff, 17 W. Adams, which I seem to recall was once a famous German restaurant, is celebrating with corned beef and cabbage, lamb stew, soda bread, bacon cheddar Guinness soup, shamrock cookies, and a bunch of Irish-themed cocktails. Anyone caught drinking a Thin Mint at the Berghoff bar oughta be pelted with stale soda bread. It starts at 10 AM and features a kids’ party from 2 to 6 PM; 312-427-3170.

Monday is the second Slow Food Chicago March of the Chefs dinner benefiting Slow Food Nation, a four-day national confab set to be held in May 2008 in San Francisco. It’s at Lula, 2537 N. Kedzie, hosted by chefs Lea Tshilds and Jason Hammel and DeKalb farmers Adrian and Debbie Plapp, all Chicago delegates to the 2006 Terra Madre Congress in Turin. The three-course meal features a “Mystery Ingredient: Adrian Plapp’s lamb, head to tail." No reservations necessary, just show up for regular dinner service. It's $40; call 773-489-9554.

El Tesoro Master distiller Carlos Camarena will be hosting a tequila seminar and three-course dinner at Salud Tequila Lounge, 1471 N. Milwaukee, Monday 3/19 at 7:30 PM. It's $40; call 773-276-7582 for reservations.

Executive chef Michael Mazza, an “Italian cuisine master,” according to the PR, will be hosting a cooking class at the extravagant and absurd Il Mulino, on Tuesday 3/20 from 6 to 7:30 PM. He’s making lamb sausage with polenta and Barolo wine sauce, trenette with lamb ragout, and zabiglione and fresh berries. It’s $45 and includes free samples. Call 312-379-0139.