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BPT’s Guide to Summer Food Events!

Food & Drink >

Summer is here and gardens are overflowing with delicious veggies and fruit and barbecues are smoking in every backyard across the country. Summer also means food festivals and tours galore and we wanted to give you a sampling of some of the great food events that we are ticketing. We got urban garden tours and cheese tasting events; beer and wine pairings and Asian market tours; tomato festivals, outdoor French dinners and even an event dedicated solely to everyone’s favorite pork product – bacon! Whatever you like to eat, we got an event for you.

July

Friday, July 15 Sunday, November 13 Downtown Santa Cruz Food Tours for July – November 2011 Santa Cruz, CA Hungry to discover Santa Cruz off-the-beaten-path? This food tour starts in downtown Santa Cruz and explores the Mission Hill Historic District, Victorian-lined Walnut Avenue, and the downtown central district. It includes tastings at: an organic scratch-made ice creamery, an award-winning local microbrewery, a Sri Lankan inspired Asian fusion restaurant and a Mediterranean from-scratch eatery with the best pizza in town.

Friday, July 15 Carytown/Museum District: Butchers, Bakers & Beyond Richmond, VA Visit intimate bistros, bustling lunch spots, Southern favorites and specialty food retailers featured in national magazines while passing through quirky Carytown and venturing into the charming Museum District. You’ll learn secrets from butchers to bakers as well as get a peek at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ new sculpture garden.

Friday, July 15 Edible Urban Garden Tour Washington DC Explore city spaces and residential gardens that will open their doors and gates for the public to see what growing good food in our own backyards, front yards, rooftops, and empty lots is all about. It’s a chance to ask questions, learn from and hear what inspires some of DC’s best gardeners. Garden features will include composting, beehives, rain barrels, fruit trees, herbs and lots of vegetable ideas.

Saturday, July 16 and every Saturday until Saturday, August 27 Aspen Top Restaurant Tour Aspen, CO Visit three of Aspen’s top independent restaurants in three hours. Go behind the scenes with kitchen tours, chef demo’s and chef interaction. Enjoy one to two small courses at each restaurant expertly paired with a beer, wine or cocktail. A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Saturday, July 16 to Sunday, October 16 Cheese Appreciation Events @ Green Dirt Farm Weston, MO This series of monthly cheese tasting events features the best regional, artisan and farmhouse American cheeses. Offered on both Saturday and Sunday, each monthly tasting is designed around a specific theme where you will learn about and sample cheeses from regional cheese makers that are paired with carefully selected beers, wines or champagnes.

Saturday, July 16 Pairings in the Plaza Chicago, IL This intimate festival will give beer lovers and foodies a chance to learn about the art of pairing the right beer and food together. Chefs and brewers will be on hand to discuss their selections for the event and how each element of the pairing enhances the other.

Saturday, July 16 Asian Market Tour & Tasting with Chinese Southern Belles, Natalie & Margaret Keng Atlanta, GA Join mother-daughter Chinese Southern Belles (and Atlanta natives), Natalie and Margaret, for a fun, unique, interactive culinary and cultural experience! By sharing their tips and tales, Margaret and Natalie hope to add a fun fusion touch to the kitchen, a cross-cultural dimension to Atlanta’s immigrant history, and a shared sense of community through the celebration of food, family and culture. Opening Minds, One Mouth at a Time!

Saturday, July 16 and every Saturday and Sunday throughout the year Food Tours Of Miami Miami Beach, FL A Tour So Good You Can Taste It! Food Tours of Miami provides a non-touristy experience, so you will feel like a local in Miami. Walk on South Beach and check out some local spots with your friendly tour guide. In addition to stopping in restaurants and tasting a variety of specialties on South Beach, you will also gain some knowledge of the history, culture and architecture. Get ready for your exceptional food walking tour experience!

Saturday, July 16 and every Saturday until Saturday, August 27 Heart of Downtown Wilmington Food Walking Tour Wilmington, NC Downtown Wilmington is a food lover’s dream, and this tour gets to the heart of this delicious area. You’ll sample 7 significant downtown restaurants. You’ll experience food, cocktail and wine tastings. You’ll meet the city top chefs, go inside its best kitchens, and get a cooking lesson, too. All of this comes with big servings of Wilmington food history and restaurant dish. Find out where to eat and how the Port City become a foodie paradise.

Saturday, July 16 and every Saturday until Saturday, September 24 North Portland Culinary Tour Portland, OR This is a three-hour stroll through Portland’s newest culinary hot spot. Attendees will explore N Mississippi and N Williams Avenues, a vibrant and eclectic neighborhood full of great food and lots of personality. Sample handmade goodness from tiny boutique eateries, a craft brewery, french inspired patisserie, and award-wining food carts. Experience gourmet finishing salts from around the world, chocolate confections from local artisans and much more.

Sunday, July 17 Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival 2011 Columbia, SC Do you love tomatoes, music, good food and drink and old time festival fun? Come celebrate local food and the TOMATO, champion of the home garden! Cold SC-brewed beer and icy white wine spritzers by The Whig and Barefoot Wines, crispy pork belly BLTs with fried green ‘maters by Bone-In Artisan BBQ on Wheels, tasty tacos, hand pies, Bloody Mary mix, tomato pies by Spotted Salamander Catering plus heirloom tomato tasting and an heirloom tomato sandwich bar!

Tuesday, July 19 Crab Boil at Back Forty Restaurant New York, NY Every Tuesday night at Back Forty is devoted to cracking, licking, sucking, smashing, hammering all the succulent flavors out of the mid-Atlantic’s most famous resident, the Blue Claw Crab. They dump a mountain of spiced crabs onto newspaper wrapped tables for you and your friends, serve it with other hand-eaten side dishes like stone ground cornbread, corn on the cob and boiled new potatoes and string beans. You wash it all down with pitchers of Sixpoint Crisp Lager. Then your hosts come back around with hand towels for the clean-up and summer fruit cobblers for dessert.

Thursday, July 21 The Science of Bread and Cheese Walking Tour San Francisco, CA These two ancient foods owe their glory to microscopic magic. Explore the role of unseen organisms in creating flavors and textures, get your hands on some gluten, and admire the microbes on some bloomy rinds. By the end of this tour, you’ll be able to play bread and cheese science expert at your next dinner party.

Saturday, July 23 Eat Your Berries! – The Oregon Berry Festival Gala Dinner Portland, OR Executive Chef Phillipe Boulot of the Heathman Restaurant will prepare a multi-course meal highlighting delicious Oregon berries paired with Oregon wines. This event is a chance to taste custom dishes created exclusively for this gala dinner by one of the NW most recognized chefs.

Saturday, July 23 German Village Tour Columbus, OH As the home to some of Columbus’ finest dining establishments, Columbus Food Adventures will give you tastes of the best food German Village has to offer. Stops include Lindey’s and G Michael’s Bistro with its seasonal low country inspired menu. Two stops have been featured on the Food Network; Schmidt’s and Katzinger’s. And, of course, no visit to German Village is complete without stopping for a treat at Pistacia Vera. The tour concludes at Barcelona, where guests will sample from their tapas offering and enjoy a cool refreshing glass of their signature sangria.

Thursday, July 28 Passionate Wine Tasting, French Dinner in the Meadowlands! Ruhterford, NJ This dinner will feature a wine selection of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Chardonnay with an authentic French dinner. Hors D’Oeuvres and nibbles will be served including L’Isle De France salad, an elegant blend of smooth avocado and baby spinach sprinkled with brie cheese, apples and candied walnuts and served with rolled turkey slices.

August

Tuesday, August 2 The Joy of Cheese Presents Summer Cheeses and Beers to Match Brooklyn, NY Summer, City, Cheese, Beer. Nuff said? Okay, at greater length, please join Joy of Cheese in Williamsburg, for a tasting of eight great cheeses and four beers (in memory of Ray Deter, Saison Dupont will be one of them). Your host will discuss both sides of the equation.

Saturday, August 6 CWO Dinner Party – Night of Parisian Enchantment Hayward, CA Community Womens Orchestra members and friends are hosting dinner parties in July and August! This is a great way to support one of the Bay Area’s most treasured institutions, while having a lot of fun getting to know some of the players in a more intimate setting. For this night of Parisian Enchantment, guests will be graced by a guest chef: Chef David Benton of Sugar Sweet SF. Suggested attire: French Casual Chic – think jeans, turtlenecks, or striped shirts for our bistro-style evening.

Saturday, August 6 Paso Robles Rotary 13th Annual Winemakers’ Cookoff Paso Robles, CA Don’t miss Paso Robles Wine Country’s most popular event! 30 wineries serving gourmet food straight off the grill & paired with each winery’s most outstanding wines.

Saturday, August 13 Under the Valley Moon Vacaville, CA At this 8th Annual Benefit for Solano Midnight Sun Foundation, a scrumptious lobster dinner will be served in a beautiful orchard located on the Shaw Ranch on Pleasants Valley Road. The evening will not only include dinner but a hosted bar, wine tasting, live and silent auctions, live music and dancing.

Saturday, August 27 Boistfort Valley Farm Dinner & Barn Stomp Curtis, WA Get ready for the feast of the season! The Fourth Annual Farm Dinner and Barn Stomp will feature delicious food from
Chef Peter Birk of Ray’s Boathouse in Seattle. The Tune Stranglers will rock the early evening
and the Grizzled Grazzled Tune Snugglers will call a square dance to finish off the night.

Saturday, August 27 Village Feast 2011 Davis, CA Davis Farm to School, along with Slow Food Yolo, will host its 7th Annual Village Feast with three hundred community members, who will enjoy this Grand Aioli community meal under the sycamore trees in Davis’ Central Park. Local ingredients from the Davis Farmers’ Market will be showcased in a menu that includes savory grilled lamb with fresh herbs, heirloom tomato salad, and fresh fruit tarts. Guests will be wined, dined and entertained, with music and dancing courtesy of Yolo County’s own, West Nile Ramblers.

Saturday, August 27 OC Weekly’s Decadence Costa Mesa, CA Sample food from local restaurants, dance to eclectic music, enjoy the visual styles of local artists and sip on tasteful cocktails all in one exciting evening.

Saturday, August 27 BaconCamp Columbus 2011 Columbus, OH Wild Goose Creative is bringing BaconCamp to Columbus once again! But this year it will be held at the North Market, because more space means more BACON to love! It is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment about bacon. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants who are the main actors of the event. It is community driven and everyone is encouraged to participate by presenting (food, art, demo), judging, or volunteering.