READING: Steve Martin proved he could write with Shopgirl, and now he's come out with a much more intriguing tale called, Born Standing Up. This is his memoir, which traces his life from an employee at Disneyland to an employee of Lorne Michaels and beyond -- tonight he'll regale you with some of these stories. 6:30pm // The Times Center [242 W 41st St] // Free PARTY: Before you warm up by a Thanksgiving meal,......

October 22: Wine Dinner at Aix This five-course wine dinner will feature nine top wines from Alsace, Austria and Germany paired with regional dishes such as Alsatian Onion Tart with Thinly Sliced House-Smoked Brisket and Raclette Fondue and Riesling-Marinated Poulet Rouge with Glazed Baby Turnips and Carrots Crispy Sauteed Spaetzle, and Riesling Jus. Doesn't that sound like fall to you? $125, tax and tip excluded. For reservations, call 212.874.7400. 7pm, Aix, 2398 Broadway at 88th......

August 19: 8th Annual Blues & BBQ Head to Pier 54 at Hudson River Park for meat, music, meat, and more meat. Hill Country, Dinosaur Bar-b-Que and other city favorites will be offering up their wares for sale. Full listing of blues acts here. Admission and music free. Pier 54 at 14th Street, 2-9 p.m. August 19: 4th Annual Singapore Chili Crab Festival This year's Tiger Beer Singapore Chili Crab Fest is in a new......

We don’t know if you heard or not, but apparently the “sexiest event of the year is back and better than ever.” That seems to be an awfully big promise but considering the dangerous combination of wine, chocolate and adult toys, the Erotic Wine Tasting Soiree at Babeland NYC, has the potential to really heat up. The promotions for the event suggest that this is for the fun, adventurous and not faint of heart. If......

July 19: Summer Wine Tasting The Village Pourhouse is hosting a tasting tonight featuring select wines from the award winning Anthony Road Wine Company, guided by John Martini, Anthony Wine's owner. While you sip, nibble cheese samplings provided by Heluva Good Cheese and listen to live music provided by Akiva. Tickets cost $25 and are available online. For more information call Cari at 212-228-4200 x8003. 64 Third Avenue at 11th Street. July 22: Top Chef......

June 7 - June 11: Broadway Panhandler "Yard Sale" Just because they don't technically have a yard in their new location won't stop Broadway Panhandler from having its annual Yard Sale, where you can find discounts of up to 75 percent off on select cooking supplies. 65 East 8th Street, 212-966-3434. June 8: Beard on Film Join directors whose films will be featured at the upcoming NYC Food Film Festival (June 14–16, 21–23, September 6–8):......

On Saturday Union Square Wines held the kickoff for the three-day, first anniversary of their new location on 4th Avenue and 13th street. Bringing in about a dozen of their favorite importers and distributors, they set up tasting stations all around the store and turned loose the herds of glass-in-hand sippers for six hours. Unlike the tastings that sometimes take place at your local wine stores with wines you do not know and are......

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......

The annual Gambero Rosso Slow Food Italian Wine Tasting reminds us a little of the Oscars. People lined up outside the Puck building anxious to get in, half the men are dressed in Armani and everybody’s dying to find out who will be the big star of the evening. The space is packed with industry-types, producers and wine geeks who are on the lookout for the next great Italian wines. The top producers honored at......

December 7: Alex Prud’homme at O&CO. Join Alex Prud’homme, Julia Child's grandnephew, as he recounts stories about Julia and reads from her memoir, My Life in France, which he co-authored. He will also be available to sign books, which might make a great present for someone on your holiday shopping list. O&CO. store, Grand Central Terminal, Graybar Passage--Lexington Ave & 42nd St. (212-973-1472), 6:00 pm, Free. December 8 - 17: Gingerbread Homes for Animals Pastry......

November 10 - 12: Ninth Annual Chocolate Show Time for a major sugar rush. Head over to the ninth annual Chocolate Show for chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate, with some culinary demonstrations and art thrown in for good measure. $25 tickets, for one day's admission, are available online (via Ticketmaster.com or calling 212-307-7171), and will also be on sale at the door (cash and checks only at the door). Metropolitan Pavillion & Altman Building, 125......

October 21: Halloween Cupcake Decorating and Book Signing Come meet Elaine Cohen at Broadway Panhandler and learn how to decorate spooky halloween cupcake treats. While you're there, get a copy of her book, Super-Duper Cupcakes, signed. Free, 2 p.m., Broadway Panhandler at 65 East 8th Street, between Broadway and University. October 22: The Second Annual Vendy Awards You've read about the finalists, now come taste for yourselves. Each of the finalists will be serving food......

This week we took a chance. For our wine tasting group, the theme was wines of Northern and Central Italy, and instead of going big, we went small—really small. We knew we would be up against big Barolos and robust Amarones. We suspected many of the wines would cost over $75 a bottle; ours was less than $25. Bite my tongue for saying this, but bigger isn’t always better, and when it comes to wine......

Trying to decide what wines to write about this week did not come as easily as we would have liked. We didn’t have a wine that blew us away, and the idea of writing about more summer wines felt overdone. It was already Friday, and the inspiration just wasn’t there. So to pick up some wine for the weekend and hopeful stumble across an idea or two, we took a walk over to Union Square......

">Bruni two-stars Little Owl, says “It has an irresistible earnestness and exuberance that explain its instant, well-deserved popularity.” Also, he really likes the pork chop. Chef Joey Campanero, formerly executive chef at The Harrison and Pace, gets kudos for “disciplined cooking,” as does manager and co-owner Gabriel Stulman, for “real hospitality.” Gothamist visited Little Owl for brunch and on opening night and was favorably impressed both times. Eater double-dared Frank to two-star Little Owl......

We came to win. We were prepared for the challenges they laid before us. Blind wines…bring it. Guess the spices…we came to play. Decorate the cookie…we’ll take down the pastry chefs. This was our mantra. Dirty or fair, we had one goal and that was to win the 2nd Annual Duckathlon sponsored by D’Artagnan. Clearly there was a miscount, because team Mother Ducker didn’t win, although we did steal the duck bacon prize from team......

April 13: Alpine Cheese & Wine Tasting Join fromagères Waldemar Albrecht and Nadia Muna Gil as they showcase of Alpine cheeses, paired with Swizz Restaurant & Wine Bar's European wine list. Call now to reserve. 6:00 to 7:30 pm, 310 West 53rd street, (212) 810-4444. $75/person. April 17: Breakfast is Back at the Shake Shack Rumor has it that the Shake Shack will resume serving breakfast on April 17th. Breakfast, which includes apple fritters, and......

Terroir is one of those concepts where if you put 50 wine geeks in a room and let them talk among themselves, you can create a heated discussion around dirt. Add to that equation a blind wine tasting and hold it at Daniel and it’s possible that a cheese puff and caviar food fight may erupt. The potential to see little bites of culinary genus thrown maliciously at Masters of Wine and industry greats was......

April 8: Broadway Panhandler Knife Sharpening Benefit Bring your knives to Broadway Panhandler to get sharpened and benefit City Harvest at the same time. We did this last year and can't tell you what a difference a sharp knife can make, especially when it's combined with doing something good for the world. Between 11:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m., bring in up to three knives and get 'em professionally sharpened for a mere $10. You can sharpen......

The Barolos went like hotcakes. The Brunellos went like Barolos and the huge parmesan cheese wheel…well let’s just say, it was a very good thing that it was armed by 3 burly Italian men. This was the scene at the Gambero Rosso Slow Food Italian wine tasting this past week. The packed room buzzed with the energy of an outdoor Italian market at peak shopping time. It was not uncommon to hear Italian sprinkled into......

February 22: From Disaster to Dessert – the Fate of New Orleans Food Slow Food NYC and the Project for Public Spaces will host a panel discussion on the impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on food production in New Orleans and the surrounding Gulf region. Panelists include: Clara Gerica, an independent Gulf Coast shrimper; Richard McCarthy, founder of the New Orleans Crescent City Farmers Market; Poppy Tooker, the leader of Slow Food New Orleans;......

For the lush, the fall harvest is the best time of year. Wine events are as plentiful as hot dog vendors in Times Square. Whether your serious about wine or just like your drink, Gothamist has found some great wine events to keep us busy this week… Champagne Tasting Date: Monday, September 26th Time: 6:45pm-8:45pm Cost: $50 Place: Tasting World, 307 West 38th Street Suite 1910 Description: For the Champagnes lovers out there, this is......

Aug 28: Blues, Barbecue and Fireworks BBQ NYC, which is on Saturday, is already sold out, but you can still get your ribs on at the Sixth Annual Blues, Barbecue and Fireworks on Sunday. This year's participants include Daisy May’s BBQ U.S.A., plus relative newcomers Dinosaur Bar B Que, RIB, Smoked Barbecue, and Spanky’s BBQ. Gothamist on last year's event. August 30: Wine Tasting at Partage Free. Wine. Need we say more, really? Join one......

August 5: Taco Chulo Opens Hipsters rejoice: Williamsburg's answer to La Esquina is slated to open this weekend (although you may want to call first). We don't think there's a secret handshake involved in this one, but there will be tasty tacos with organic and natural ingredients (did someone say Niman Ranch pork?) topping housemade tortillas, San Fran Mission-style burritos, and Texas breakfast tacos for brunch (and boy are we psyched for their chilaquiles and......

…well not in the literal sense but ask any attendees at the Australian Wine Tasting party Gothamist attended on Wednesday and they will affirm, we should have taken first prize. Wine parties are on the rise. When you add a little friendly competition, lots of wine and nibbles and a dash of creativity it’s amazing how quickly an evening can be spiced up…even a Wednesday. The party Gothamist attended last week was one of the......

May 25: "Belly" Dancing -- North African Food and Wine Pairing Take a journey to Egypt, Lebanon, Morroco and the Mediterranean at Le Tableau Restaurant. $65 provides you with six courses, five wines, and one belly dancer. Menu includes Coriander Crusted Prawns with Chilled Harira, Lebnah and Smoked Syrian Almonds Grouper with Charmoula and Red Rice, Tahini Lime Sauce Squab Breast, and Foie Gras and Roasted Apricots. 511 East 5th Street between A and B,......

The weather is heating up in the city and that really means one thing…time to pop some corks. This week the city is hopping with spicy, tangy, mouth watering goodness… Monday: Coturri Winemaker's dinner at Virgil's Real Barbecue 6:30pm, Cost: TBD 152 West 44th Street Time to spark up the bbq. What better way to bring in the sunshine than with bbq and wine? Tony Corurri heats things up by pairing his bold in......

Drink Up will be a regular bar review column appearing Friday afternoons, in hopes that it'll give you a new (or old) spot to check out over the weekend. Enjoy, and drink up! Gothamist was curious as to what George Ruotolo (Tribe, Vig Bar) had up his sleeve when he and partners opened PS 450 in the unsettled area of north Murray Hill. We bravely ventured above 14th Street to report and were immediately put......

The good folks at D'Artagnan, who have forgiven us for stalking them at the Grand Tasting, are celebrating their 20th Anniversary later this month. The makers of scrumptious foie gras, truffle butter, duck prosciutto, and other hard-to-resist high-end foods, are hosting a number of public events to celebrate the occasion, including a cooking demonstration on February 24th by some of the world's best female chefs (Les Nouvelles Meres Cuisinieres), the Duckathlon on February 26th, a......

Cold? So are we. But never fear -- here are some booze-filled events coming up to warm your cockles, or whatever else needs warming: - January 21: Five at Five Fridays at Michael's presents "The Unique Expressions of Pinot Noir from Around The World". Every Friday at 5:00 Michael's sommeliers choose five wines from their wine list and offer an unlimited five glass flight for one hour at and around the bar. Chef Robert Ribant......