Aid for Japan and Italy
To raise money for Japanese disaster relief, an eclectic concert with something for everyone will be held on Thursday at 8 p.m. at City Winery, 155 Varick Street (Vandam Street). Tickets are $45 to $65: citywinery.com. There will be food and wine for sale.
On Sunday, the restaurant Gemma, 335 Bowery (Third Street), will donate 10 percent of its revenues to the Japan Society’s disaster relief funds. Reservations: (212) 505-7300.
The recent earthquake in Japan may dominate the news, but many people have not forgotten the earthquake that hit L’Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy in 2009. Part of the price of a cookbook about the food of Abruzzo — “Breaking Bread in L’Aquila” by Maria Filice (Telos Press, 2010) — is being donated to restoration efforts in the devastated area. There will be a book signing, with food and wine, on April 6 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Rizzoli bookstore, 31 West 57th Street. Signed copies are also available by calling (800) 522-6657.
An Italian Anniversary
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the death of the Italian food historian Pellegrino Artusi there will be a panel discussion on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Theresa Lang Community and Student Center at the New School, 55 West 13th Street; $5 (free for students) from (212) 229-5488, boxoffice@newschool.edu. Afterward, a dinner of classic Italian fare will be prepared by the chef Marc Vetri of Philadelphia at the James Beard Foundation, 167 West 12th Street, (212)675-4984: $155 for members of the foundation and those attending the panel (using code “New School”). The price for others is $205, from jamesbeard.org.
A Taste of Connecticut
A tasting with food prepared by several Connecticut restaurants, with wine, will be held on Thursday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. to benefit the Connecticut Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society at the Yale Peabody Museum in New Haven; $75 from ctfightsms.org. Purchases of two or more tickets from (860) 913-2550, extension 224, are $50 each.
Blind Fools and Wine
A blind tasting of 10 wines will accompany a four-course April Fools’ Day dinner on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the private dining room at Craft, 47 East 19th Street; $110 plus tax and tip: (212) 780-0880, kgardiner@craftrestaurant.com.
Say It With a ‘C’
Chocolates, cheeses, charcuterie and cocktails will be served at a benefit for BECA, Bilingual Education for Central America, which has programs in schools in Central America, on Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. at Parish Hall, 74 Trinity Place (Rector Street) in the financial district. Tickets are $125 a person or $200 a couple in advance from becaschools.org, $150 a person at the door.
A Calendar of Sweet Days
A hands-on pastry class led by Sandro Micheli of Adour Alain Ducasse at the St. Regis will be held on Saturday in the restaurant’s kitchen, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., covering pastry-making basics. Subsequent classes will be on May 14, on jams and jellies; Sept. 10, macarons; Oct. 29, souffles; and Nov. 19, holiday desserts. Each class is $125: (212) 710-2277.
Meat-Free Festival
A vegetarian food festival — with food samples, food for sale, cooking demonstrations and clips of “Forks Over Knives,” a film about diet and health to be released nationwide on May 6 — will be held on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Altman Building, 135 West 18th Street; free.
Walk and Talk Chocolate
A chocolate tasting, with representatives from a dozen companies, will be held on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at the 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue (92nd Street); $39: 92Y.org.
Foods for Passover
A class in preparing Passover desserts will be held on Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, 1407 Coney Island Avenue (Avenue J), Midwood, Brooklyn; $75: (718) 758-1339, kosherculinaryarts.com.
A class in making matzo ball soup and chocolate-espresso frozen egg creams will be given on April 6 at 6:30 p.m. by Nikki Cascone, the chef and an owner of Octavia’s Porch, 40 Avenue B (Third Street). Reservations, $40: (212) 677-4096.
Spuds, Spuds and Spuds
There will be a talk about the potato, followed by a six-course potato dinner, on Monday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Roger Smith Hotel, 501 Lexington Avenue (47th Street). Andrew Smith, whose book “Potato: A Global History” (Reaktion Books), has just been published, will speak. Reservations, $48.46, including the dinner with an open bar: spuds.eventbrite.com.
Wines From Portugal
A comprehensive array of the wines from more than 60 Portuguese wineries will be poured for tasting on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. For tickets, $40, to benefit Citymeals-on-Wheels: dunnrobbins.com.
Indian Food and Film
Sanjeev Kapoor, a celebrity chef in India, will collaborate with Hemant Mathur to prepare a five-course dinner on Tuesday at Tulsi, 211 East 46th Street, with seatings at 6 and 8 p.m. Those who attend will also receive a copy of Mr. Kapoor’s cookbook. Reservations, $85 or $120 with wine but not including tax and tip: (212) 888-0820.
The Varli Food Festival, celebrating Indian food, with samples from more than 30 restaurants, cooking demonstrations, film screenings and a silent auction, will be held on April 7 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Altman Building, 135 West 18th Street. Participating chefs will include Mr. Kapoor, Mr. Mathur, Jehangir Mehta, Vikas Khanna, Floyd Cardoz and Maneet Chauhan. Tickets, $100, with 10 percent donated to the Food Bank for New York City: varlifoodfestival.com.
Dining in Dumbo
Tasting Brooklyn, with samples from Brooklyn restaurants and from purveyors and makers of wine and spirits, as well as cooking demonstrations, will be held on Tuesday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Dumbo Loft, 155 Water Street (Adams Street); $45 to benefit the Brooklyn Food Coalition, which promotes healthful, sustainable food. Tickets: tastingbrooklyn.com.
Pork for Dinner
Meet a pig farmer from New Hampshire and dine on the meat of his Landrace-Yorkshires on April 6 at 7 p.m. at Applewood, 501 11th Street (Seventh Avenue), Park Slope, Brooklyn; $85 with wine, plus tax and 20 percent tip: (718) 788-1810.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: March 30, 2011
An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect date, Sept. 29, for the class on making souffles at the St. Regis.
