PORTLAND

Restaurants fight hunger

Four Maine restaurants will offer specially priced menus in March and donate a portion of their sales to fight childhood hunger.

Miyake, Pai Men and Restaurant Grace in Portland and The Foreside Tavern in Falmouth are participating in Share Our Strength’s Dine Out: No Kid Hungry program.

Miyake, 468 Fore St., is offering several options for diners to donate. All month long, Miyake will donate $1 to Share Our Strength when customers order a three-course dinner featuring products from Miyake Farm, the four-course shojin tasting or the five-course omakase tasting. Order the seven-course omakase, and the restaurant’s donation goes up to $2. And there will be a $3 donation for every “chiimuwaaku” omakase tasting.

Pai Men, 188 State St., will feature a three-course menu for $23 at lunch and dinner, and 5 percent of those sales will be donated to Share Our Strength.

From Monday to March 18, Restaurant Grace will contribute $1 from each three-course $40 menu. Grace is located at 15 Chestnut St. The Foreside Tavern, 270 Route 1, will donate $1 from each $30 three-course menu.

The funds raised will support the Good Shepherd Food Bank, the Preble Street Teen Center, Cultivating Community and the Opportunity Alliance.

 

Wine and rabbit at Grace

Restaurant Grace, 15 Chestnut St., will hold a four-course Austrian wine and rabbit dinner at 7 p.m. tonight.

Courses include a rabbit liver and bacon mousse; braised rabbit lasagna with foraged mushrooms, house-made ricotta, sunchoke puree and Parmesan water; stuffed rabbit loin; and a white chocolate mousse.

Call 828-4422.

 

Gourmet Gala is March 21

Fore Street chef Sam Hayward will be the guest judge at Mercy Hospital’s Seventh Annual Gourmet Gala for Gary’s House on March 21.

Doors open at 6 p.m. at Holiday Inn By the Bay, 88 Spring St.

The event costs $40 and will include food from 16 restaurants, including Calendar Island Maine Lobster, Figa, the Frog and Turtle, Nosh, Otto, The Farmer’s Table and Zapoteca. And, for the first time at this event, there will be a beer tasting.

In addition to food, there will be silent and live auctions and live music by the Paper Street Jazz Band. Host of the gala will be comedian Joe Ricchio.

For tickets, contact Kim Toppi at 879-3605.

 

Authors turn out for library

“Cooks for Books,” an event that connects fans with their favorite Maine authors at neighborhood dinners around Portland, will be held at 6 p.m. March 10.

Authors who will break bread with their readers include Crash Barry, Sarah Braunstein, Jaed Coffin, Melissa Coleman, Susan Conley, Sara Corbett, Michael Erard, James Hayman, Hannah Holmes, Shonna Milliken Humphrey, John McDonald, Wesley McNair, James L. Nelson, Morgan Callan Rogers, Caitlin Shetterly, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Debra Spark, Barbara Walsh, Monica Wood and Colin Woodard.

After dinner, guests and authors will meet at the Portland Public Library’s Lewis Gallery for a dessert-and-champagne reception accompanied by live music.

Cooks for Books is a benefit for the Portland Public Library’s annual fund.

Seating is limited. For more information or to reserve a spot, call David Jacobs at 871-1700, ext. 759, or email jacobs@portland.lib.me.us.

 

Store to crack cheese wheel

The staff at Whole Foods Market, 2 Somerset, will crack open a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano at 3 p.m. March 10.

It takes five different knives to crack the wheel, which has to be opened in a particular traditional way in order to keep the cheese’s structure and crumbly texture intact.

The cracking will be accompanied by a beer tasting from 2 to 4 p.m. that will feature Italian beers that pair well with Parmigiano Reggiano.

FALMOUTH

Health educator to speak

Verne Varona, the well-known health educator who wrote “Nature’s Cancer-Fighting Foods” and “Macrobiotics for Dummies,” will speak at the Foreside Place Community Space, 202 Route 1, from 7 to 9:30 p.m. March 10.

Varona will cover topics such as nutrition, designing a diet to fit personal needs, eliminating cravings and maximizing digestion. The cost is $20 at the door. In addition, a limited number of private counseling sessions will be available.

Reservations are required. For more information or to reserve a spot, call 233-6846 or email lisabethsilverman@gmail.com.

FREEPORT

PSO to host dinner, auction

The Portland Symphony Orchestra will host its 11th Annual Wine Dinner and Auction on March 14 at the Harraseeket Inn, 162 Main St.

The event will begin with a silent auction at 5 p.m. that will include wine and hors d’oeuvres.

Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. and will feature Oregon wines from Adelsheim & Domain Drouhin Vineyards. Participating chefs include Stephanie Brown of SeaGrass Bistro in Yarmouth; Jonathan Cartwright, executive chef of the White Barn Inn in Kennebunkport; Eric Flynn, executive chef at the Harraseeket; Sam Hayward of Fore Street in Portland; and Lee Skawinski of Cinque Terre and Vignola in Portland.

Dinner will be followed at 8:30 p.m. by a live auction and dessert course.

Ticket are $200 per person or $2,000 for a table of 10. For reservations, call Michael Manning at 773-6128, Ext. 311.

SCARBOROUGH

Ice cream social for Habitat

Meet Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Belle and other Disney heroines on March 25 at an ice cream social to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

The event will be held from 1 to

3:30 p.m. at Scarborough High School, 11 Municipal Drive. Admission is $5 at the door, and buys one ice cream sundae per ticket holder.

There will also be a glitter wishing station, princess wands for a donation and a craft table. Elizabeth Tardif will be reading her book, “A Bunny Named Apple,” at 1:45 and 2:45.

Call Tina Hendricks at 837-9192.