Photo: obo-bobolina/Flickr

LOCAL BITES

Freaky Friday(s)
ThinkTank in Cambridge took a nasty beating from Mother Nature this summer, but after much mopping and scrubbing, it’s back in action and re-opening TONIGHT! Can’t make the party? No worries, this “bistrotheque” hosts a weekly Happy Hour starting at 5pm on Freaky Tiki Fridays. Get a head start on the weekend with one of their Polynesian cocktails.

“Kings of Pastry”
Opening September 24th at the Coolidge Corner Theatre is this decadent new documentary by acclaimed filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker. They follow sixteen French pastry chefs in Lyon battling (and piping and sculpting) for three intense days during the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France competition. Why? To gain the ultimate recognition in the world of French pastry as a King of Pastry. Hegedus and Pennebaker secured exclusive access to shoot this never-before-filmed test of culinary excellence. There will also be a special screening with the filmmakers at the Theatre September 26th at 3pm. Tickets available online or at the box office located at 290 Harvard St., Brookline.

Graze at theGraze
There are several reasons to attend theGraze, an all-you-can-eat barbecue buffet of naturally raised meats (there’s #1) from Lyn-Dell Farm and Austin Brothers Valley Farm on September 25th, 5-8pm (4pm cocktail hour: #2). The $30-35 you spend on admission goes towards farming organization The Move (charitable cause: #3). Tickets and more information here.

Purple Not Required (But Desired)
From 12-5pm on September 25th, join other Phantom Gourmet fans for their annual Food Festival on Lansdowne Street, where you can sample eighty of the Phantom’s favorites. It’s $30 to purchase tickets for this 21+ event online, $40 at participating restaurants and $50 at the door.

Ale Be Right Back
The popular Festival of Ale in Worcester is back for its 10th year on September 25th. It’s a day of, yep, beer, with live music from the Drunken Uncles and BBQ by Peppers Fine Foods. Tickets include admission to the festival and all beer samplings, as well as entrance to the museum if you need a break from all that ale. Side note: Worcester featured in this week’s on-air series “Finding A Way Along Route 9.” Check that out here.

Scent-sory Dining
New York Times perfume critic Chandler Burr will lead guests through Boston’s first Scent Dinner at Menton, the newest of Barbara Lynch’s restaurants, on September 26th. Burr will present five “courses” of fragrances and chef Colin Lynch will then use his culinary imagination to create a meal inspired by their raw elements. The dinner, which costs $250, will begin at 6:30pm after a cocktail reception. Call Menton at (617) 737-0099 for reservations and details.

Farm Freshness on the Cape
Slow Food Cape Cod is hosting a day of fresh eats and jazz at Coonamessett Farm in Falmouth beginning at 3pm on September 26th. Take a tour of the farm before digging into a four-course community meal thanks to chef Teddie Churchill of Cucina d’Amore. Click here for ticket information.

Serving Ourselves Farm
At 6:30pm on September 30th, join Ashmont Grill’s Chris Douglass for a harvest dinner that benefits Serving Ourselves Farm, a 2.5 acre vegetable, flower, and herb farm that provides work experience and job training to Boston’s homeless. Sixty percent of the produce goes directly to the Long Island Shelter in the Boston Harbor, and the rest to local markets and restaurants. Tickets available through Friends of Boston’s Homeless.

Cheers, Dah-ling
Food and Wine presents the fifth annual Newport Mansions Wine and Food Festival at Rosecliff and Marble House from September 24th-26th. If you haven’t already visited these summer “cottages”, the tastings, cooking demonstrations, seminars and Jazz Brunch (just to name a few of the weekend’s events) should give you the perfect excuse to do so.

NATIONAL TREATS

BBQ in Every Bite
Changing Gears, a new public radio project helping to revive the industrial Midwest, kicked off Monday with its first food feature, Reinvention Recipes. Chefs, food purveyors and growers across the Midwest are putting a new spin on classic dishes, all with a mind to making the Midwest a foodie destination. In this multimedia post, food writer Michael Nagrant visits Chicago’s Smoque BBQ, where co-owner Barry Sorkin whips up his unique version of peach cobbler. Stay tuned!

Hungry? Eat A Bug
That’s what San Fransisco-based chef and artist, Phil Ross, served last Saturday to adventurous diners at the Brooklyn Kitchen. NY Times writer Jeff Gordinier covered the five-course Mexican feast of delights like smoked corn custard sprinkled with crispy moth larvae. If you’re not too grossed out, check out why Ross doesn’t think it’s a big deal to chomp on insects, and watch the brave guests guzzle their meal(worms).

Proud of Your Potato Salad?
Then quickly whip up a crowd pleasing potluck dish and submit a photo and recipe by noon TOMORROW for The New York Times Magazine. They’ll test ‘em all out and put together the winning list for October 6th.