BANGOR

Cellardoor Winery hosts multi-course dinner Sunday

Cellardoor Winery will hold one of its Cellar Series wine dinners at 11 Central beginning at 4 p.m. Sunday.

The five-course dinner, plus dessert, will begin with lobster and goat cheese puff pastry and includes a spring vegetable soup and leg of lamb with roasted vegetables.

Seats are $100 per person and are limited, so reservations are recommended. Reserve a spot by calling 11 Central at 922-5115 after 4:30 p.m.

BIDDEFORD

Restaurant Week offers deals in neighboring cities

The cities of Biddeford and Saco are teaming up to hold their own Restaurant Week March 24-30.

To find out more about the deals local restaurants will be offering, go to biddefordsacorestaurantweek.com.

PORTLAND

PSO dinner and auction stars top chefs, Greek wines

The 13th annual Portland Symphony Orchestra wine dinner and auction will be held at 5 p.m. March 26 at the Harraseeket Inn, 162 Main St., Freeport.

This is the orchestra’s largest fundraiser of the year. This year the focus will be on Greek wines from the island of Crete, and the featured chefs will be Damian Sansonetti from Piccolo, Sam Hayward from Fore Street, Mitchell Kaldrovich from Inn by the Sea, Niko Regas from Emilitsa and Eric Flynn from the Harraseeket Inn.

Tickets are $200 per person or $2,000 per table (tables seat 10 people). For tickets, contact Lindsay Stanley at 773-6128, ext. 318.

Local foods showcase to put school lunches in spotlight

Students and staff will hold a local foods showcase at six Portland public schools on March 27.

Students will learn about the locally grown foods used in their school lunch program, and how buying local helps the environment and the economy. Then they’ll sample and rate dishes that could be added in the future, including homemade applesauce, seaweed salad and marinated tofu.

The event, which is funded by a federal farm-to-school grant, will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. at Ocean Gateway on the Portland waterfront, with elementary school students sampling first, followed by middle schoolers and high school students.

About 37 percent of the fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood and dairy products purchased for cafeterias in Portland Public Schools are locally sourced. Every Thursday, the district features Maine harvest lunches with local dishes such as chicken drumsticks, redfish, ground beef, rutabaga sticks, blueberries, daikon radish, kohlrabi and apples.

Celebration will feature sustainable seafood dishes

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute, 350 Commercial St., will hold a Seafood Celebration from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. April 3.

Guests will sample seafood dishes by local chefs and restaurants who are culinary partners of GMRI, and learn more about how the institute is developing partnerships among chefs, fishermen and seafood distributors promoting sustainable seafood.

Participating restaurants include The Salt Exchange, Five Fifty-Five, Sonny’s and others from the Portland area, and the Adriatic Restaurant and Bar from Salem, Mass.

The cost is $35 per person in advance or $45 at the door. The price includes seafood dishes, two alcoholic beverages and desserts.

To register, go to gmri.org/seafoodcelebration. For more information, email ctraister@gmri.org or call 228-1622.

Great American Meatout encourages healthy eating

The Great American Meatout, a campaign of the nonprofit Farm Animal Rights Movement, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

The campaign encourages people to give up meat for a day on Thursday and focus on a plant-based diet. The day will be celebrated in Portland with a proclamation by Mayor Michael Brennan naming Thursday as Great American Healthy Food Day. The proclamation urges residents to “explore a wholesome diet of whole grains, vegetables and fresh fruits.”

Nationally, activists will be holding public dinners, cooking demonstrations and other events to ask people to change their diets. To find events, go to meatout.org/events.

For more information on the Farm Animal Rights Movement, go to farmusa.org.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.

Pop-up restaurant to feature chef from Blue Strawbery

Chef James Haller of the famed Blue Strawbery has been partnering with chef Patrice Gerard in some pop-up restaurants in the city for the past few months. The next one will be held April 21 at the Wellington Room, 67 Bow St.

The five-course dinner will include a second course of chipotle-crusted scallops and salmon medallion with blood orange emulsion, and a main course of rack of lamb stuffed with Mediterranean vegetable sausage with sauce Porto. Every dinner is accompanied by chef Haller’s home-baked breads.

The cost is $65 per person, cash or check only. Reservations are required. Call (603) 431-2989

BRUNSWICK

Week of special menus, prices begins on April 7

The Brunswick Downtown Association is once again organizing an Eat Brunswick Week, slated to run this year from April 7 to 13.

During the week, local restaurants, bars and other food-related businesses offer special menus and pricing on lunches, dinners, treats and snacks.

This year pricing will range from $6.14 to $30.14. Watch for the Eat Brunswick spoon insignia that denotes participating businesses.

Participating businesses include Enoteca Athena, Frontier, the Inn at Brunswick Station, The Great Impasta, Henry and Marty, Ebenezer’s Brew Pub, Wild Oats and more.