PIEDMONT PICNIC
Led by enthusiastic foragers and easygoing educators Amanda Matson and Elizabeth Weichel, Piedmont Picnic Project is one of the best local food initiatives going. On long, guided walks through the woods, Matson and Weichel teach people about how, when, and where to spot edible local items. Then, to support their assertions with evidence, they feed you with meals made from the ingredients they’ve found. The season’s first walk, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 20, at Raleigh’s Anderson Point Park, focuses on early spring greens and edible flowers. A picnic of foraging-sourced teas, jams, and jellies follows. www.piedmontpicnic.com
MACARON DAY
For the second consecutive year, lucettegrace’s Daniel Benjamin is leading the charge on a statewide edition of Macaron Day. On Sunday, March 20, the downtown Raleigh patisserie will join Triangle favorites Guglhupf, Escazu, La Farm, and Rose’s to offer up macaron selections made just for the event; Asheville’s French Broad Chocolates and Winston-Salem’s Atelier on Trade become the first participants outside of the Triangle to join. In a sweet new addition to this day of desserts, all particpants are donating a quarter of their sales to Meals on Wheels of Wake County. Insider tip: lucettegrace will offer a macaron made from Videri Chocolate today only. www.lucettegrace.com
DRINKING GREEN
We’ll assume you had your fill of green beer last weekend, in anticipation of St. Patrick’s Day, which arrives on Thursday. A beer dinner at Durham’s Local 22 on St. Patrick’s Day offers a chance for another kind of green brew, without the food coloring. California’s esteemed Green Flash is currently building its second brewery in Virginia Beach. In anticipation, Local 22’s been serving its stuff all month. This four-course dinner comes with matching brews. Related: After a long delay, Raleigh’s Clouds Brewing started serving its own beer, a single IPA, amid the weekend’s St. Patrick’s celebration. It’ll add two more beers on Thursday. www.local22durham.com & www.cloudsbrewing.com
