TABLE, FARM, OR BOTH
Two of the week’s biggest food events, all part of the annual spring series Taste, have already sold outthat is, The Grand Taste Experience, which will bring a constellation of local chefs to the Durham Armory, and a celebration of Nana’s guru Scott Howell the next day. But you can still get in on Taste’s most affordable offering, a lunchtime cookout at Maple View Farm outside Hillsborough. The fare is admittedly a bit more modest than at the other meals, with hot dogs and fixings, beer and ice cream. Tickets for the eleven a.m. party start at $12.50 for kids and $35 for adults, with family four-packs available at a steal.
If you didn’t get into The Grand Taste, you may consider the Earth Day iteration of Fork2Farmer, a series that sends you into the field before putting you at the dinner table. You’ll start a few miles outside of downtown Raleigh at Old Milburnie Farm, a delightful spread of chickens and pigs and rows of green, before heading downtown for a unique meal at Centro. Tickets for dinner and the Thursday tour run $73. And in the same vein, the great Piedmont Farm Tour runs April 23–April 24, with one $30 ticket earning you and a carload of friends access to a score of farms scattered across the region.
www.tastetheevent.com, www.centroraleigh.com, www.carolinafarmstewards.org
MORE BEER
The keg of North Carolina Beer Month will be tapped before you know it, but there are plenty of chances for suds this week. Highlights include Brewgaloo in Raleigh (see page 32), a five-course collaboration between Trophy and Mandolin, and what sounds like an incredible “garden party” at Lantern in Chapel Hill, with pours provided by Raleigh’s consistent Nickelpoint Brewing.
