Café Centro
Photo: courtesy of the restaurant
No need to wait until the holidays to celebrate. Eat, drink and be merry all weekend at these events:
Friday, October 23: Join Astor Center as they break out the bubbly for "Taste the Magic: Sparkling Wine for Everyday Drinking" with master sommelier Fred Dexheimer. Guests learn the process of making sparklers while sipping champagne, prosecco, cremant, cava and sekt (6:30–8:30 PM; $65 per person; click here for tickets).
Saturday, October 24: Cook classic French bistro dishes with chef Franck Deletrain at Café Centro. After learning a menu of timeless favorites – frisee aux lardons, onion soup gratinée, coq au vin and crème brûlée – attendees taste the results and walk away with recipes (11 AM–1 PM; $75 includes tax and gratuity; call 212-818-1222 to reserve).
Saturday, October 24: Celebrate the Hindu Festival of Lights at the James Beard House with chefs Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur (Devi, American Masala) and Joshua Thomas (American Masala). Along with a ceremonial lighting of oil lamps, the chefs will serve dishes such as sticky-and-sweet tamarind chicken wings, farro and mushroom tikki cakes, and coconut green curry shrimp (7 PM; $100 members, $125 nonmembers; Call 212-627-2308 or click here to reserve).
Sunday, October 25: Josh Applestone of Fleisher’s Grassfed and Organic Meats in Kingston, NY, and Tom Mylan of the soon-to-open Meat Hook in Brooklyn visit the New Amsterdam Market at South Street Seaport to demonstrate the art of butchering. The two butchers will cut an entire side of pig and discuss the various cuts and their uses in cooking (3:30–5 PM; $35; call 646-275-2597 or click here for tickets).
– Kathleen Squires