Photo: whitneyinchicago/Flickr
LOCAL BITES
Pop!
The pop up restaurant trend is hitting Boston with a slow, steady punch. And we’re all the better for it. Barbara Lynch’s 9 at Home has joined the mêlée with a spring pop-up of her own tonight and tomorrow night at Twelve Chairs. On the seasonal menu: morels, fois gras, rib eye and more. Tickets are $125, which includes wine pairings. Call (617) 742-9991 to make a reservations – seats are limited to 50 diners per evening.
Bakery on Stage
On April 30 and May 1, Theatre@First in Davis Square will be performing a play inspired by Lyndell’s Bakery in Somerville. According to the theatre, “The Bakery is a romance about a forty-something baker in the aftermath of an unexpected divorce.” The play was written by local food writer Lisë Stern who said the performance includes live music by Sweet Wednesday, along with locally made cookies and cupcakes.
Muscadet Love
A taste of France is heading to Boston for the month of May. Restaurants including Island Creek Oyster Bar, Aquitaine, Brasserie Jo and wine retailers like the Wine Bottega, Central Bottle and South End Formaggio are working to bring Muscadet wine from the Loire Valley to Boston. The wine is described as unpretentious with “dry, mineral flavors and acidity” that makes it a great match for New England seafood, namely oysters. The Muscadet madness includes two events, May 1 and 14, to celebrate the wine and eat oysters.
Boston Bakes for Breast Cancer
Fight breast cancer May 2 – 8 by eating cupcakes, cookies, and other delicious baked goods. Over 250 bakeries, restaurants and chocolate shops will be offering special made desserts to support the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The participants will donate 100% of the proceeds from these special sales to Dana-Farber. Can’t leave the house? Check out this list of retailers that will deliver their treats.
NATIONAL TREATS
Bakery on TV
CNBC will be re-airing an episode of 60 Minutes on May 3rd, 10 p.m. ET, featuring Greyston Bakery in New York. Greyston is most well-known for creating brownie mix-ins for Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Also significant, the bakery prides itself on being “a force for self-transformation and community renewal” as it hires individuals regardless of work history, namely it says, the “chronically unemployed.”
An Allium Vacation
Planning a trip to Hawaii in the next week? Whaler’s Village in Maui will be hosting the 22nd annual Maui onion festival, a celebration of the Sweet Maui Kula Onion. The bulb is prized as a contender for sweetest onion in the world. The festival promises a Maui onion pairing dinner May 6, as well as contests, demonstrations, and sampling galore at the main event May 7.
Dog Eat Dog
Want to win $10,000? Yeah, me too, but probably not bad enough to enter Nathan’s annual hot dog eating contest. If you haven’t heard, Nathan’s recently added a women’s division to the annual hot dog eating contest – and now, the prize is equal to that of the men’s division. Read about the gendered prize drama at NY Daily News.
Cocktail Demonstration
From the NY Times, this video is too great to pass up – two cocktails from master mixologist Alex Ott. He calls the drinks “The Fountain of Youth,” a gin-based ‘spa cocktail’ and “Little Death,” which Ott says is an aphrodisiac.
Unique Match
Pairing wine with food doesn’t have to be difficult. Nor does it have to be fancy. Sarah Chappell from Serious Eats proves this with her article on pairing sweet wine with barbeque chips.