Have a nose for rose? Can you pick a pinot just by taste? Find out at the Craft Blind Wine Dinner, where the wine director at Craft restaurant's private dining room (47 East 19th Street) tests your knowledge of vino with a blind taste test. Diners sip eight wines while also enjoying a four-course meal with dishes like agnolotti with ricotta cheese and ramps (!) and spring lamb with asparagus and morels. The two diners who identify the most wines win an as-yet-unnamed prize. Check out wine director Greg Majors on Twitter (@GregDMajors) for some clues before the event. The dinner begins Friday night at 7 p.m.; email Mejken Poore ([email protected]) to secure your $125 seat.
Northern Manhattan gets a little mobile food love this Saturday at the Harlem Food Truck Rally, which rolls onto Fredrick Douglas Boulevard between 117th and 118th from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dine on dishes from Wafels & Dinges, Gorilla Cheese, Luke's Lobster and Gothamist favorite Shorty's cheesesteaks (get the Italian fries!). Toum (Lebanese), Palenque (arepas), Nuchas, Hibachi Heaven (stir fry-type dishes) and Diso's (Italian sandwiches) are also slated to show up, plus some crafts for the kiddies.
Get your gastroenterologist on speed dial and prepare your taste buds for this year's NYC Hot Sauce Expo—if you dare! Now that we know sriracha isn't the be all and end all, take a taste of some less widely known fiery condiments and maybe find a new favorite scrambled egg topping. Vendors with names like Dragon's Blood Elixir and Defcon should give you an indication of what's in store; they're also doing wing eating competitions, bloody mary mix throwdowns and other questionable eating events. The fire eating commences Saturday at 10 a.m. and continues on Sunday; tickets are $10 - $75.
Food Bank for New York City and Time Out New York are teaming up again for Time Out For Hunger, which isn't so much a single event as it is a great reason to dine out this weekend. On Sunday, participating restaurants are donating 10% of their daily proceeds to Food Bank For New York City, one of the largest food assistance organizations in the country. Fancy spots like Otto, Casa Nonna and the BLT empire are participating; as are casual spots like Cafe Grumpy, Dos Toros and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Harlem.
