Up-and-down temps aside, we're into full-blown winter now, and it's time to get your eating pants on. Pro-tip: they should look like this, and you must wear them with pride.
On Monday, Culinary Historians of New York are hosting a talk on "The Making of Modern American Vegetarianism," hosted by historian and author Adam D. Shprintzen. The talk will focus on the history of the vegetarian movement starting from the country's inception all the way to its current precedence in mainstream society, but more importantly there will be veggie snacks, like meat-free sliders and Special-K meatloaf. The event goes down at 7 p.m. at NYU's Department of Food Studies and Nutrition; it costs $40, $25 for CHNY members and $10 for students, and you can purchase tickets online.
Sweet-toothed souls should come out to the Bell House in Gowanus on Tuesday for chocolate-loving blog Chocolate NYC's one year anniversary party. There will be plenty of chocolate-ey treats for the tasting, with everything from mint chocolate to sea salt to the finest Ecuadorian stuff (but no white chocolate, because "that stuff is gross"), along with offerings from purveyors like Fine & Raw, Nunu, the Chocolate Room and Lindt. Oh, and there will be brownies. Buy your tickets online and be there or be sad; the party starts at 7 p.m. and costs $20 to attend.
If you're not into chocolate for some horrific senseless reason, also on Tuesday the pork experts behind Brooklyn Cured are hosting a sausage making and wine-pairing class at Cobble Hill pub 61 Local. Founder Scott Bridi will teach you the basics of fine sausage-mixing, stuffing and curing, and you'll get to taste some offerings from their repertoire paired with local wines; they'll even let you take some sausage home. The two-and-a-half hour class kicks off at 7 p.m. and costs $55 to attend. You can purchase your tickets online.
And last but not least, on Wednesday Baltimore restauranteurs the Bagby Restaurant Group will be bringing a taste of Charm City to New York, serving up a six-course tasting menu at the James Beard House in the West Village. Dishes include Chesapeake fluke crudo, lamb sweetbread tortellini and poached Maine lobster (missing: pit beef, Natty Boh and Berger cookies, but we'll forgive it.) Courses are all paired with wines, and the 7 p.m. meal runs $170, $130 for Beard House members; you can reserve a spot by calling the venue.
