March 7: Ever wonder what it's like to work in a restaurant kitchen? For $25, participants in a DC Dining Society event will work side-by-side with Restaurant Kolumbia's chefs on the hot food line or at one of the other stations during dinner service starting at 4:30 PM; later, participants enjoy a tasting menu served in the dining room for an additional $35 (202-265-0477).
March 7: Chef Christopher Bradley's four-course tribute to the local farmer's market and the terroir of Italy, France and Spain will pair regional dishes and wines – rabbit and wild mushroom en gelée with a Beaujolais Village, a stuffed piquillo pepper with a Yasa Blanco Calatayud, suckling pig with a Virginia Cabernet Franc and a Venetian dessert with Asti Spumanti – at his restaurant, Ardeo (7–10 PM; $105 per person; 202-244-3700).
March 8: Addie's, Carlyle and Tosca are among the 150 area restaurants taking part in the nationwide fund-raiser "Dining Out for Life," by donating 25–100% of dinner revenues (and, in some cases, lunch proceeds as well) to Food & Friends, an organization that helps persons living with HIV/AIDS and other life-challenging illnesses; for a complete list of participating dining spots, go to www.diningoutforlife.com.
March 8: Does size matter when it comes to wine? The Peter Mondavi family, who have commissioned a 27-liter bottle filled with the equivalent of three cases of 2004 Charles Krug Vintage Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, apparently thinks so. The behemoth will be auctioned off to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation's work with children at a reception (6:30 PM) and three-course wine dinner (7:30 PM) featuring Mondavi products at Morton's in Reston, Virginia ($150 per person; for reservations, call 703-796-0128; for auction information, contact 301-962-WISH).
March 10: Bazin's on Church will celebrate its first birthday by donating the proceeds of its two most popular dishes – the crab spring roll and the chocolate tart – to the Life With Cancer Foundation, which helps families cope with the disease (703-255-7212).
March 10: Four Italian cooks visiting from Tuscany will prepare a four-course meal while imparting fascinating food lore at a demonstration class and luncheon held at the L'Academie de Cuisine (1–3 PM; $95 per person; 4021 Wilson Ln., Bethesda, MD; 301-986-9490).
March 14: Sample more than 40 Spanish wines along with tapas, paella and desserts, while a guitarist adds a festive note, at a tasting event at Agua Ardiente (6:30–8:30 PM; $70 per person; 202-244-3700).
March 16: Chateau Palmer and Calvert-Woodley Fine Wines are hosting a five-course wine dinner at Le Paradou, where chef Yannick Cam's modern French preparations of squab and rack of lamb will set off the vintner's full bodied Bordeaux (6:30 PM; $225 per person; 202-966-4400).
March 17: Sure, you can wear green and quaff a few pints at the neighborhood pub, but for an authentic taste of the Auld Sod this St. Patrick's Day, head to Cathal Armstrong's Eamonn's/A Dublin Chipper in Old Town for Guinness and battered fish, or to his Restaurant Eve for a seven-course tasting menu featuring black pudding enriched with foie gras and colcannon, a potato and cabbage dish, dressed up with gold flakes ($135 per person; 703-706-0450).
March 19: In conjunction with French wine importer Robert Katcher Selections, Mon Ami Gabi will offer a four-course meal – including pork shank with braised cabbage and bacon – with wines to match; passed hors d'oeuvres and sparklers begin at 6:30 PM ($65 per person; 301-654-1234).
March 19–27: For $10 at lunch, Smith & Wollensky will pour 10 generous two-oz. wine samples from a changing array of 10 American producers. With any luck, the weather will permit grape-nuts to sip and be seen on the sidewalk cafe.
March 21: France's Burgundy wines will challenge American Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs at this blind tasting at the French Embassy (4101 Reservoir Rd. NW) in which participants will taste eight wine pairs (one from France and one from America), then vote on their favorite (6–8 PM; $75 per person; 703-408-6848; additional sessions will take place on June 30th).
March 22: There will be more than 60 single-malt scotches to choose from – fortified by a buffet of roast beef, chicken, Cowgirl Creamery cheeses and Patisserie Poupon desserts – at a whiskey festival held in the Whittemore House (6:30–9 PM; $90 per person; 1526 New Hampshire Ave. NW; 202-244-3700).
March 22: Opus One, the Napa Valley winery founded by Robert Mondavi and Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, will pour its vintages from as far back as 1992 at a Charlie Palmer Steak wine dinner (7:30 PM; $250 per person; 202-547-8100).
March 22: Denim chic is the dress code for the Capitol Area Food Bank's Blue Jeans Benefit ball, in which a galaxy of talented toques will prepare their specialties for sampling, the Second Amendments (whose daytime gigs are at Capitol Hill desks) will set feet tapping and live and silent auctions will raise money to feed the needy (6–10 PM; $125 per person; Marriott Wardman Park ballroom, 2660 Woodley Rd. NW; 202-526-5344, ext. 238).
March 25: Jacques Haeringer, chef-owner of L'Auberge Chez François, will be honored by 10 top toques, including Michel Richard (Citronelle and Central) and Eric Ziebold (CityZen), who are preparing the five-course seated wine dinner for this French International Culinary Society black-tie fund-raiser at the French Embassy (champagne reception from 5–7 PM; dinner from 7–10 PM; $180 per person; 4101 Reservoir Rd. NW; 301-340-7855).
March 27: Congress members and local notables will cook up a storm at a March of Dimes benefit at the National Building Museum (401 G St. NW), providing guests with samples and recipes of regional appetizers during a cocktail reception that precedes a seated dinner (7 PM reception; 8 PM dinner; $1,000 per person; 703-288-8686).
April 2: Washington Post "Food 101" columnist and What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained author Robert Wolke will demystify cooking lore (explaining, for example, why one should drink milk, not water, to cool one's mouth after eating hot peppers) at an Art Institute of Arlington talk; a buffet dinner prepared by the school's culinary students and teachers follows (7 PM; $40 per person, includes wine; 1820 North Fort Myer Dr.; 202-973-2168).