Bon Appetit, Y’All
This year’s culinary kickoff for the Texas Book Festival is a Tasting of International Fare on Thursday evening, Nov. 6, from 7 to 9pm, in the home of Carolyn and Mike Maples. The party will feature special national guests, including award-winning Indian chef/cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey, renowned food journalist/cookbook author Mimi Sheraton, Houston chefs/restaurateurs/television personalities Damian Mandola and Johnny Carrabba, and New York chef/cookbook author Tom Valenti, in addition to Texas authors Kelsey August, Sara Singer, Terry Thompson-Anderson, and Robb Walsh. All the authors will be available to sign copies of their books and local chefs Terry Conlan, Jeff Blank, David Garrido, Lucinda Hutson, Matthew Lee, Robert McGrath, Paul Schunder, Mick Vann, and Art Meyer will be on hand to prepare signature dishes from the featured cookbooks. Tickets for the gala event are $100 per person and can be purchased by calling 320-5451. All festival proceeds benefit Texas public libraries.
Big Foodie Weekend
As usual, October closes out with a bang! While many folks will be haunting Sixth Street in full Halloween regalia, I’ll be enjoying a VIP dinner at the Four Bears Restaurant and attending the Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow Ultimate Chain Saw Experience in Kingsland. Though the VIP event is long sold out, there might still be tickets for the outdoor movie screening and barbecue at www.drafthouse.com… Speaking of Halloween regalia, if you’re creative and hungry, the folks at the local Chipotle Grill outlets are offering free meals to any customer who shows up dressed as a foil-wrapped Chipotle burrito (or a taco or some guacamole) anytime on Friday, Oct. 31. Go for it!… Down at the Convention Center this weekend, check out the Let’s Get Cooking: Everything Food, Everything Kitchen (www.cookingevents.com) expo Friday, Oct. 31, through Sunday, Nov. 2. The show will feature exhibits of new kitchen products, appliances and housewares, cooking demonstrations by local chefs, food and wine samplings, plus pie-baking and pumpkin-carving contests with cash prizes. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 4-14… Local wine lovers will want to drop by Grape Vine Market (7938 Great Northern Blvd., 323-5900) on Saturday, Nov. 1, between noon and 6pm to chat with local sommelier Anthony Garcia, taste some wine, and get a signed copy of his new book, Paying Attention: A Guide to Wine With Food… The Lone Star Cafe (11066 Pecan Park Blvd., 258-6425) near Lakeline Mall is sponsoring the first ever officially sanctioned Chicken-Fried Steak Eating Contest this Sunday, Nov. 2, from 1 to 6pm. The contest is sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eaters and will feature champion gurgitator Ed “Cookie” Jarvis, owner of titles in eating pizza, wings, dumplings, french fries, and ice cream, as the main competitor to beat. There will be live music, entertainment for children, and an undercard bout featuring local media celebrities… We received an e-mail announcement about the opening of the new Ferrell’s Farmers Market (203 Ralph Ablanedo Dr., 282-1270, info@ferrellsfarmersmarket.com) from marketing director Jennifer Clearman. The market will feature fresh produce, as well as unique arts and crafts, and will be open Wednesday through Saturday afternoons from noon to 6:30pm in a new pavilion constructed on a 5-acre tract belonging to the Clearman family. According to Clearman, this will not be a growers-only market, and she has plans to offer fresh citrus fruit from the Rio Grande Valley this season. More on this later after we’ve had a chance to check the market out… And the weekend culminates at 7pm this Sunday, Nov. 2, with the final screening in our fall Eat, Drink, Watch Movies series featuring a delectable haute Chinese meal prepared by chef Jeff Liu of Bistro 88 paired with Ang Lee‘s remarkable Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. Make your necessary reservations at www.drafthouse.com.
This article appears in Tom ‘Leatherface’ Delay.