BOOTHBAY

Kitchen Garden Cafe chef to lead fall baking class

Barbara Cary, chef at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens’ Kitchen Garden Cafe, will be giving a hands-on fall baking class from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

The class will include tips on making homemade pie crusts. Cary will also teach how to make a classic pumpkin pie straight from the pumpkin, and will give a demonstration of how to make a homemade apple-cranberry stuffing.

The three-hour workshop is $30 for members and $37 for non-members. Reservations are required. Call 633-4333, Ext. 101, or visit mainegardens.org.

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is located at 132 Botanical Gardens Drive, off Barters Island Road.

PORTLAND

Cockeyed Gull wine dinner to feature six courses

The Cockeyed Gull on Peaks Island will host a six-course wine dinner Friday.

Courses include prosciutto-wrapped cod loin over lavender polenta, tenderloin of beef with wild mushroom ragout and potato puree with Bordelaise sauce, and a slow-poached scallop terrine with seasonal vegetables and Oriental rice with a balsamic vinaigrette. Wines from Italy and Portugal will be paired with each course.

There will be two seatings, one at 5:15 p.m. and one at 8:15 p.m. Cost is $65 per person, excluding gratuity.

Reservations are strongly recommended. Call 766-2800. The Cockeyed Gull is located at 78 Island Ave.

Raw-food expert to teach Whole Foods holiday session

Elizabeth Fraser of Girl Gone Raw will teach a class on making festive holiday fare from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 16 at Whole Foods Market, 2 Somerset St.

Fraser will prepare raw vegan dishes that are appropriate for the holidays, including cranberry sauce, stuffing, un-roasted vegetables and pumpkin pie.

Registration and payment are required in advance. Stop by customer service or call 774-7711.

Petite Jacqueline meal marks Beaujolais Nouveau

Petite Jacqueline celebrates the annual French harvest of Beaujolais villages, Beaujolais Nouveau 2011, with a special dinner Nov. 20.

The dinner includes a four-course tasting menu with wine pairings for $45. Seatings will be between 5:30 and 6 p.m. and 7:30 and 8 p.m. The regular menu will not be offered during this special event.

Reservations are encouraged, and can be made by calling 553-7044. Petite Jacqueline is located at 190 State St.

Bar Lola wine dinner to feature sparkling varietals

Bar Lola, 100 Congress St., will offers a Holiday Sparkling Wine Dinner at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 6.

Sparkling wines from France, Spain, Austria and Italy will be paired with a five-course tasting menu.

The host for the evening will be Scott Tyree, an award-winning sommelier from Chicago who was named one of “America’s Best Sommeliers” in Esquire magazine in 2004. Under Tyree’s supervision as wine director, the Chicago restaurant Tru won Wine Spectator’s Grand Award for Outstanding Restaurant Wine Lists and was named on Food & Wine’s “Top Ten Best New Wine Lists” in the U.S.

For reservations, call 775-5652.

ISLE AU HAUT

Island chocolatier wins Dessert Professional honor

Kate Shaffer, co-founder of Black Dinah Chocolatiers, has been named to Dessert Professional magazine’s annual list of Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America.

Past honorees have included Michael Recchuiti of Recchuiti Confections in San Francisco, Norman Love of Florida-based Norman Love Confections, and New York’s Jacques Torres. The 2011 list will be featured in the December issue.

Shaffer and her husband, Steve Shaffer, started Black Dinah Chocolatiers (blackdinahchocolatiers.com) in 2007. The couple recently moved the operation from their home kitchen to a new solar-powered production facility in a renovated barn on their island property.

Shaffer just published her first cookbook, “Desserted: Recipes and Tales from an Island Chocolatier” (Down East, $29.95).