CULINARY EVENTS
Food
Fais Do Do It's Cajun party time, as the Cajun Cafe kicks into gear with its fourth annual Crawfish Festival. Enjoy delicious Cajun foods, everything from good-as-it-gets gumbo to crawfish etoufee, and stomp your feet to lively Cajun, zydeco and blues bands. Cajun Cafe was Weekly Planet's 2000 Best Fais Do Do winner. Tickets are $8 per day, $15 for a three-day pass. April 6-8. 8101 Park Blvd., Pinellas Park. 727-546-6732. http://cajuncafeonthebayou.olm.net.
Go Cuckoo For Kale Vegetarian chef Debby DeGraff teaches everything you can do with kale in this free cooking class. 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, and 10-11 a.m. Thursday, April 12. Nature's Harvest Market, 1021 N. MacDill Ave., Tampa. 813-873-7428.
Kids Can Cook Easter Breakfast Kids 8-14 years old will love learning how to bake Easter treats like cinnamon donuts with maple syrup, braided egg bread and more. $35 per person. 9:30 a.m.-noon Saturday, April 14. Home Gourmet, 471 Main St. Dunedin. 727-736-6400. www.homegourmet.cc.
Get Ready for the Grill Make your reservations now for a wonderful wine dinner, featuring George Foote of Beaulieu Vineyard. Five courses of food and wine pairings will include juniper peppercorn-seared, boneless duck breast with roasted shallot and merlot demi-glace paired with Beauliue Merlot Napa '98, char-grilled tornadoes of beef with wild mushroom ragout paired with Beaulieu Tapestry reserve '97 and much more. $90 per person plus tax and tip. 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17. The Grill at Feather Sound. 2325 Ulmerton Road, Clearwater. 727-571-3400 to reserve.
Chefs Battle For The Best Two top Bay area chefs, Bill Shrem of St. Larry's and Paul Kapsalis of Green Springs Cafe, will battle it out in the kitchen to see who's your favorite. Each has 45 minutes to prepare a complete meal from surprise ingredients. You vote for your favorite. $40 per person, part of which benefits The Hospice of Florida Suncoast. 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, April 17. Home Gourmet, 471 Main St., Dunedin. 727-736-6400. www.homegourmet.cc.
Save the Everglades Tell the folks at Native Seafood you want to save the Everglades, and they'll give you a free bottle of wine! Native Seafood will serve a free bottle of Banrock Station chardonnay or merlot with every order for two dinner entrees, any Monday through Thursday until May 31. Banrock Station will donate a portion of its sales to the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation to promote and restore Florida's historic river of grass. Open for dinner only 4-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, and 4-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Native Seafood, 5901 Sun Blvd. inside the Shopping Village of Isla Del Sol. 727-866-8772.
Get Fresh The Ybor City Fresh Market is held every Saturday in Centro Ybor from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free parking is available along Eighth Avenue at the meters. Make them your first stop every Saturday for fresh fruits, herbs, vegetables, seafood, live plants, arts and crafts and much more. Contact Rick Janson at 813-241-2442.
Wine
What a Pair We Make Learn all about food and wine pairings as Chef Dawn prepares a dinner of Pacific Northwest dishes like duck breast with blackberries and ginger, fiddlehead ferns and more, and Ed Rasdale, a distributor of Oregon and Washington State boutique wines, discuss how the wines were chosen. $50 per person includes class, dinner and wines. 7-9 p.m. Friday, April 13. Home Gourmet, 471 Main St. Dunedin. 727-736-6400. www.homegourmet.cc.
Say Hola to the Wines of Spain Discuss and taste wines from the hottest wine producing regions in Spain as part of the Novice Series of classes at Wines By Morrell Florida. $30 per person. 6-8 p.m. Thursday, April 12. Wines By Morrell Florida, 2009 N. 22nd St. Tampa. To RSVP, call 813-241-8587.
This article appears in Apr 5-11, 2001.