Last minute plan makers are in luck that tonight's Jack Daniel's Whiskey Pairing Dinner at BLT Prime isn't quite sold out, though reservations should be made ASAP if you plan on attending. The four-course dinner pairs special Jack Daniel's varieties with special dishes like the Sinatra with roasted quail, the Single Barrel with seafood sausage and the Tennessee Honey with a blueberry blossom panna cotta. Before the seated dinner, enjoy passed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. The event begins at 7 p.m. with tickets available for $100; call 212-995-8500 or email courtney@bltprime.com to reserve.
Food fests are a dime a dozen these days but food fest competitions are something else altogether. Enter this Saturday's Duckathlon, a culinary competition that tests your knowledge of all things edible while also treating you to some tasty eats prepared by some notable chefs and farmers. Here's how it goes: 25 teams endure some interactive challenges (identify cuts of meat using a map; swine anatomy; squab husbandry, etc) with winners taking home fancy wines, fancy knives and gift certificates to fancy restaurants. All throughout, eats and bites and general revelry and some music to boot. The whole shebang is put on by D'Artagnan, a top supplier of all-natural and organic poultry and game. Teams can enter here or snag single $60 tickets; the event runs from noon to 5 p.m. at Metropolitan Pavilion.
After this week's ceaseless cloud cover, we're finally due for some sunshine and with it the desire to be outdoors. The New York Botanical Garden throws a fitting party on Saturday and Sunday with its Big Backyard BBQ & Music Festival from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days at their Daffodil Hill. Purchase plates of meat and fixins from The Strand Smokehouse including pulled pork, ribs, sides and more or a pretzel from Bronx Baking Co. There will be craft brews on hand as well like Coney Island Mermaid, Jonas Bronck's Beer Co. and others, plus complimentary items for sampling courtesy of Taste NY. For entertainment, enjoy the sounds of some live bands, try your luck at the putting greens or one of many other activities happening over the weekend. Tickets cost $30 and include access to special exhibitions at the garden.
Pump up the protein at the 2nd annual World’s Biggest JerkOff 2, a jerky competition chewing up The Bell House this Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Local aficionados compete for the best dehydrated meat products, which you're free to gnaw on and enjoy; if the jerky has a mysterious face shape, run far, far away. Tickets for regular folk are $15 but if you can prove you're a dad, you get in free.
