April 5: Italian Festa to celebrate the paperback publication of George deStefano's An Offer We Can't Refuse: The Mafia in the Mind of America. A reading and signing, followed by a Sicilian wine tasting, with antipasti served. Free. Hunters Point Wines and Spirits, 47-07 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens.

April 7: Russell Simmons & Jivamukti Yoga School hold a benefit for Farm Sanctuary, which provides a refuge for farm animals and works to end factory farm cruelty. Event features vegan hors doeuvres, cocktails, and a performance by Nellie McKay. $100, tickets available online. 8pm to midnight at Jivamukti Yoga School, 841 Broadway, 2nd Floor.

April 10: Famed French food scientist Herve This gives a lecture on The Science of Taste: Molecular Gastronomy. A reception follows. Reservations recommended: NYAS members $10, nonmembers, $25. 6-7pm. New York Academy of Sciences, 250 Greenwich Street between Barclay and Vesey Streets, 40th Floor.

April 11: Broadway Panhandler and New York Magazine present Strategize Your Kitchen, tips for throwing a great cocktail party, featuring Chef Francois Payard with a demo on canapes, Donatella Arpaia with table design ideas, champagne cocktails and tips on serving champagne from The Bubble Lounge, and Gillian Duffy, New York Mags culinary editor, on how to equip a small kitchen. $25. 6:30-8:30pm, Broadway Panhandler, 65 East 8th Street.

April 12: Action Against Hunger holds a celebrity chef charity event featuring chefs from Top Chef, Dinner Impossible and Iron Chef and New York fasion designers from Project Runyway. The designers will redesign chefs jackets to be auctioned off in a fashion show during the event. $75, tickets available online. 7pm-midnight. The Altman Building, 135 W. 18th Street.