Top 4 Food & Drink Events to Attend in April 2014

With each new month comes a fresh crop of exclusive food and dinner events that you must attend. Here is April’s must-attend short list.

With each new month comes a fresh crop of exclusive food and dinner events that you must attend. So, pull out your planners and start saving the below April dates—you will not want to miss any of this.

Korean Pop Up in Art Museum

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In collaboration with Philadelphia Museum of Art’s newest exhibit, Treasures from Korea, Stephen STARR Events will transform the museum’s Granite Hill restaurant into a three-night-only Korean pop-up.

From April 4–6, Starr chef Gerald Drummond will take claim to the stoves, offering 15 modernized, Korean-inspired dishes. Expect inventive dishes like crispy shrimp and scallion pancakes, pulled pork kimchi jjigae, chilled buckwheat soba noodle salad, and green tea cake with makgeolli ice cream and sesame brittle.

Better yet, STARR Events will also host an interactive chef demo in conjunction with the exhibit, coined Breath of the Dragon, which will take stage April 16, 6–8 p.m., and explore molecular gastronomy and cooking techniques of Korea.

More information and tickets available at www.philamuseum.org.

Italy Takes Over Citron and Rose

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Executive chef Karen Nicolas of Merion Station’s all-things-kosher bistro, Citron and Rose, gears up to launch an international dinner series, with the first unfolding on April 7, 5:30–10 p.m. Join the acclaimed chef as she spins the concept into a classic Italian pop-up, with guests able to devour a four-course prix fixe for $55.

From comforting choices like padda alla pomodoro (tomato bread soup with black kale and duck sausage) and roasted chicken with braised escarole and white beans, to fresh pastas like lasagne bianche and gnocchi alla bolognese, this kosher Italian tasting is a perfect way to bite into spring. Let’s not forget the dairy-free dessert lineup either, which includes cannoli with chocolate olive oil ice cream and hazelnut praline semifreddo.

Italian wines and specialty cocktails available. Reservations made at (610) 664–4919. More info at www.citronandrose.com.

On The Farm Feast

The host of PBS The Farm, Ian Knauer, is going back to his Chester County roots for his upcoming Wyebrook Farm chef dinner. Knauer, who recently filmed an episode of his farm-to-table show at Wyebrook, will act as guest chef on April 12, 7 p.m. Plans for his impressively local feast include a menu crafted around spring produce and Wyebrook-raised meats.

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LEFT: Ian Knauer, sustainability advocate. Photo by Nina Lea Photography. RIGHT: Tea-soaked tenderloin venicin, photo courtesy of Nectar.

Knauer, an acclaimed writer, editor, TV host and sustainability advocate, arrives with a laundry list of culinary accomplishments, including acting as a recipe-tester-turned-food-editor at renowned Gourmet Magazine, scribing for the nation’s finest food publications (Bon Appetit included), cooking for well-known names, and leading the eco-conscious lifestyle movement. One night with this food star and you’ll be picking out a farm plot for yourself.

Diners can expect his one-night-only menu to feature fresh, fierce dishes, like medleys of spring radishes in bacon butter and poached baby veggies in gelee and microgreens. Additional dinner highlights include grilled beef tongue with spring herb chimichurri, confit goat rillettes with PA-grown chile sauce, garlic and herb-stuffed pork loin with fresh peas, and honey and lavender panna cotta.

Cost is $100 per person; seats limited to 50 guests. Reservations made by emailing info@wyebrookfarm.com. More info at http://wyebrookfarm.com.

Australia Invades Nectar

Drink your way through the land down under’s premier winery, Penfolds, at Nectar’s upcoming wine dinner unfolding April 14, 6 p.m. Nectar’s certified sommelier, Scott Zoccolillo, welcomes wine lovers the rare chance to sip their way through the Penfolds’ Bin Series, including tastes of the Bin 51 Riesling, Bin 407 Cabernet, RWT Shiraz and 2006 Grange.

Nectar’s owner/chef Patrick Feury will prepare a refined four-course tasting to complement the wines, including options like poached halibut with goat and cow burrata, roasted squab with foie gras sausage, tea-smoked tenderloin venison, and warm Valrhona genoise. The Australian affair kicks off with a wine reception, which includes passed hors d’oeuvres like Peekytoe crab meat rillette and Nova Scotia lobster “en brioche.”

Cost is $250 per person; seating is limited. Reservations made at (610) 725–9000. More info at http://tastenectar.com.

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