American Public Media’s The Splendid Table (www.splendidtable.org) host Lynne Rossetto Kasper is in the Triangle this week to chat with fans of the Sunday show (heard at noon each week on WUNC radio) and to sign copies of How to Eat Supper, a handbook for getting through the work week with home-cooking.
Kasper will be at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill (University Mall, 201 S. Estes Drive, 929-7133, www.southernseason.com) from 3-5 p.m. April 9, and McIntyre’s Fine Books in Pittsboro (2000 Fearrington Village Center, 542-3030, www.fearringtonvillage.com/mcintyres.asp) from 3-5 p.m. April 10. Check out “Locavore Nation,” a yearlong project of the show that features a Chapel Hill-Carrboro resident as one of the East Coast guinea pigs.
This month is overflowing with wine events. Among the many choices is the one at Glenwood Grill (2603-151 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, 782-3102, www.glenwoodgrill.com), Sunday evening, April 13, celebrating New Zealand’s Oyster Bay Wines paired with Raleigh Chef John Wright’s seasonal menu. Call for reservations.
April 19 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. is also a big day for local tastings, when Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre plans to tease your palate with the Great Grapes Wine, Arts and Food Festival. The event features more than 150 wines from 15 North Carolina wineries, gourmet cooking demonstrations and live music. Sample local chefs’ specialties, stock up on handmade gifts, and put your toes to work in the great grapes stomp-off. Tickets are $20 and available at www.uncorkthefun.com, where you can also find a list of participating wineries and an events schedule.
The average date for our last frost, April 15, is just around the corner. Gardeners and vegetable lovers everywhere are catching the fever for putting seeds in the ground, watching them grow and getting to the farmers’ markets early to see what’s new. The Triangle is lucky enough to have so many ways to celebrate warm-weather gardening and the produce season, that we have to choose where to go to get inspired. This week marks the seasonal return of most Triangle farmers’ markets.
We can also buy seedlings, veggies, meat and dairy at one of the biggest agricultural fetes of the year: The Piedmont Farm Tour covers all the counties in the Triangle. If you haven’t already, you’ll want to mark your calendars for this event now, April 19 and 20, 1-6 p.m. Details at www.carolinafarmstewards.org, including where to buy advance tickets and get your pass (for a carload) at $5 off the $30 admission. Look for more detailsand recipes for cooking your purchasesin the Indy‘s next Locavore Cooking column April 16.
Know about a special food happening in the Triangle? Send it to Now Serving at food@indyweek.com.
