NYC Food Events For the Weekend (And Beyond)

You could be a master of fried chicken after attending the Fried Chicken Demo at Fairway Cafe and Steakhouse. [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

Eat, Drink and Be Literary
Thursday, May 6, 6:30pm As a part of BAM's culinary and literary series, award-winning author Jayne Anne Phillips will be reading from her latest work, Lark and Termite, with an audience Q&A. Before that, there will be a dinner with wine and live music. $52. BAMcafé, 30 Lafayette Avenue (between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street), Brooklyn; 718-636-4100; event website.

Limelight Marketplace
Friday, May 7 The famous 20th Street building will debut as the Limelight Marketplace. It will include many specialty food items like MarieBelle chocolates and forthcoming restaurants (including an outpost of Grimaldi's). 656 Avenue of the Americas (at 20th Street); event website.

Live Off the Land
Friday, May 8, 7:00pm-9:00pm Presented by NYC Wildflower Week, chef and author Louisa Shafia, of the book Lucid Food, will teach you how to live off the land at this cooking demo and tasting. Shafia will use plants native to the Northeast in five dishes, like nettle pesto with crostini. After the demo and tasting, Shafia will sign books. $25. Bowery Culinary Center, Whole Foods Market, 95 East Houston Street (at Bowery); 212-420-1320; event website.

Champagne Seminar at Le Bernadin
Saturday, May 8, 4:30pm Aldo Sohm, Le Bernadin's wine director, will teach the terroir and vinification of each wine, as well as how to properly taste. Aldo was named the "Best Sommelier in the World" in 2008 by the Worldwide Sommelier Association and received the 2009 James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine Service. Later this month he will teach a seminar on Wines from South America. The tasting and discussion starts at 4:30pm, followed by a dinner at 6:30pm. $295. Le Bernardin, 155 West 51st Street (between Sixth and Seventh Avenues); 212-554-1108; event website.

Pastry Basics
Saturday, May 8, 11:30am-1:30pm Chef Sandro Micheli will help get your pastry skills up to par. He will teach the basics, such as chocolate-chip cookies, followed by a tasting and a dinner (your creations will be served at the end of your meal). Reservations required. $75. Adour Alain Ducasse at The St. Regis New York, 2 East 55th Street (at Fifth Avenue); 212-710-2277; event website.

Pig Butchering Demo
Sunday, May 9 (through May 13); 1:00pm-4:00pm Jimmy's No. 43 kicks off its Pig Week with a butchering demo by its pig CSA farm, The Piggery. The demo will be followed by a "porky lunch" and bluegrass music. $20. Jimmy's No. 43, 43 East 7th Street (between Second and Third Avenues); 212-982-3006; event website

Scarpetta's Second Anniversary Special Menu
Sunday, May 9 (through May 13) To celebrate Scarpetta's second anniversary, chef Scott Conant will offer a special menu that kicks off on Mother's Day, but will be available through May 13th. Conant has prepared a four-course prix fixe menu that includes complimentary wine pairings. The menu includes some of the chef's most popular dishes, such as creamy polenta with fricassee of truffled mushrooms, spaghetti with tomato & basil, black cod with roasted fennel and concentrated tomatoes and the chef's selection of desserts. $50. Scarpetta, 355 West 14th Street (at 9th Avenue); 212-691-0555; event website.

Fried Chicken Demo
Wednesday, May 12, 7:00pm Chef Mitchel London will show you how to make fried chicken with all the fixin's--mac and cheese, cole slaw, biscuits and banana pudding--at this demo and tasting at Fairway Café. Dig in at an end-of-class feast. $40. Fairway Café and Steakhouse, 2127 Broadway (between 74th and 75th Streets), second floor; 212-994-9555; event website.

Sakura Festival
Ongoing This month-long celebration of the season of sakura (or cherry blossoms) continues at EN Japanese Brasserie. Chef Abe Hiroki will offer a special multicourse tasting menu that highlights the sakura in dishes like cherry-wood-smoked Washugyu with quail egg and cherry-blossom salt and chilled cherry-blossom buckwheat noodles with dipping broth. $85, with sake pairings $130. EN Japanese Brasserie, 435 Hudson Street (at Leroy Street); 212-647-9196; event website.

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