Eat Cetera: Ice Cream Social, Hot Plate Lopate, Big Apple BBQ
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<strong>Ice Cream Social:</strong> <a href="http://www.murrayscheese.com/">Murray's Cheese</a> already has a stronghold on one end of the dairy spectrum, but soon they'll be expanding their empire. Starting on Saturday, the cheesemongers will begin stocking <a href="http://gothamist.com/2008/10/07/jennie_and_alexis_blue_marble_ice_c.php">Blue Marble ice cream</a>, and are hosting an ice cream social to celebrate. For $5 you can create your own sundae with chocolate, butterscotch or caramel sauce and toppings. Murray's will also be grilling sausages all afternoon as part of the Bleeker Street festival, so you don't have to worry about dinner. Or you could just get another sundae. We don't judge.<p></p><em>254 Bleecker Street, (212) 243-3289</em>
<em>Lopate, Hot Plate</em><p></p><strong>The Great Lopate Hot Plate Cook Off:</strong> Cooking shows make home cooking look so glamorous. Everyone's broiler has multiple racks, nobody's stove has a busted burner, and everyone can just throw their dirty dishes into a dishwasher. In an Iron Chef battle for the New York kitchen, WNYC's Leonard Lopate will host the great <a href="http://beta.wnyc.org/thegreenespace/events/2010/jun/15/lopate-hot-plate/">Hot Plate Cook Off</a> on June 15th. Chefs Jacques Pepin and Michel Nischan will prepare gourmet dishes using only hot plates and basic cookware. While they're cooking, Le Bernardin sommelier Aldo Sohm will be hosting a little wine tasting game, blindfolding volunteers to see who can best distinguish an expensive wine from a cheaper, quality one.Restaurateur Lidia Bastianich will serve as a judge for the final plates, and a few audience members will be chosen to taste the dishes. <a href="https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/8211845">Tickets to the event are $25</a>, or you can watch the <a href="http://www.thegreenespace.org/thegreenespace/">live videocast</a> and cook along at home with your own hot plate!<p></p><em>Jerome L. Greene Performance Space [44 Charlton Street]</em>
<p>Pulled pork shoulder from Blackjack BBQ <em>(Tien Mao/Gothamist)</em></p><p></p><strong>Big Apple BBQ Block Party: </strong>It's that time of year again. Time for the blocks around Madison Square Park to be filled with the delicious aroma of smoked meat and with people clawing through lines long enough to make Shake Shack seem like express service. Featuring 17 pitmasters from 13 states, the <a href="http://www.bigapplebbq.org/">8th annual BBQ Block Party</a> features live music, cooking demos, and BBQ at $8 a plate (before <a href="http://gothamist.com/2009/06/14/crowds_flock_to_the_annual_big_appl.php?gallery0Pic=4#gallery">supplies inevitably run out</a>). Representing New York are Ken Callaghan of Blue Smoke, Pete Daversa of Hill Country, Big Lou Elrose of Wildwood BBQ, John Stage of Dinosaur BBQ and John Wheeler of Rack & Soul.<p></p>If you don't feel like paying by the plate, FastPasses are available for $125, which includes a $100 value redeemable for food and access to the "express lines," but be prepared for some long waits regardless. You can at least rest assured that the money will go to the Madison Square Park Conservancy; the event raised over $100,000 for the park last year.