BATH

Reservations flying out the door for dinner featuring geese, ducks

Fans of duck and geese: Don’t squawk, but seats are already filling up for an Oct. 30 dinner featuring Hank Shaw, the James Beard Award-winning food blogger and author of “Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast” and the new “Duck, Duck, Goose: Recipes and Techniques for Cooking Ducks and Geese.”

The dinner, which will feature several species of domestic ducks and geese, will be held at Beale Street Barbecue at 215 Water St. in Bath. Reservations are from 5 to 8 p.m., but chef Michael Quigg says most of the 6 to 7 p.m. slots filled up immediately.

Shaw will meet with guests, sign books and discuss techniques for cooking wild and domestic waterfowl. He’ll also share hunting, fishing and foraging techniques and recipes for North American wild foods.

The fixed-price, multi-course dinner (with options) will cost $65, but Quigg says most items will also be offered a la carte. Wine and beer pairings will be available.

For reservations, call 442-9514 or email info@mainebbq.com.

CAPE ELIZABETH

Natural wines, expert on them to be paired with dinner at farm

Zev Rovine, an expert on natural wines, will be the featured guest at a natural wine dinner at The Well at Jordan’s Farm, 21 Wells Road.

The dinner, which will be held from 6 to8:30 p.m. Sept. 11, costs $60. Devenish Wines is co-host of the event.

For more information or reservations, call 831-9350 or email jmowers24@aol.com.

GORHAM

Sebago to give free lunch, beer to volunteers who pick hops

Work for your beer at Sebago Brewing Co.’s Local Harvest hop picking party Saturday.

Beginning at 9 a.m., brewers and volunteers will pick and process locally grown hops in exchange for a free lunch and fresh beer. Interested? Email jesse@sebagobrewing.com.

Then mark your calendar for Sebago’s annual Octoberfest celebration Sept. 21 at the brewery. The first 300 ticketholders are guaranteed a 32-ounce commemorative stein of either the 2013 Octoberfest lager or the 2013 Local Harvest ale.

The celebration includes German music and food, hourly tours of the brewery and a contest for the best German outfit (the winner gets a free keg party).

Festival admission is $20. The food ticket costs $12 and includes wood-fired pretzels, homemade pickles, Runabout Red Ale-braised bratwurst, sauerkraut, potato salad and other traditional German foods. Vegetarian options also will be available.

Got a designated driver? They can get in for $10, and they’ll still get a beer stein.

For more information or tickets, go to brownpapertickets.com/event/451461.

HARBORSIDE

Four Season Farm dinner to offer preview of fare at new restaurant

Get a preview of the new Vinland restaurant, opening soon in Portland, at a special dinner hosted by Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch at Four Season Farm on Friday.

There are only 20 seats available for the dinner, which will be held in the farm stand at 609 Weir Cove Road.

The eight-course tasting menu of 100 percent local foods costs $90 per person. Many of the ingredients will come right from Four Season Farm. Wine pairings  from small, organic growers will be available for another $45 per person.

To purchase tickets, go to vinland.me.

KENNEBUNK

Fitness coach and author will lead discussion on paleo diet

David Bidler, a Portland-based fitness coach and author of “Paleo in Maine: A Local Resource for the Modern Hunter Gatherer,” will lead a discussion of the health benefits of the paleo diet at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 19 at 44 York St.

Followers of the regime claim it leads to improved sleep, better digestion and weight loss.
To reserve a seat, call 985-8877.

SCARBOROUGH

Pie and cupcake bakers can help charity and win prizes

Make a great pie or a killer cupcake? Enter the charity pie/cupcake contest at the Kitchen & Cork store. The Sept. 15 contest benefits the March of Dimes Foundation.

Sponsors of the contest include King Arthur Flour and Emile Henry. Co-sponsors are Architec Housewares and USA Pan.

Pie categories are Best Fruit Pie, Best Cream Pie and Best Alternative Pie. Contestants can enter pies in each category, but only one per category. Cupcake categories are Best Decorated Cupcake (adult and youth) and Best Tasting Flavor Cupcake (adult and youth). A $5 entry fee, to be donated to the March of Dimes, is required for each entry.

Prizes include $25, $50 and $75 gift cards to King Arthur Flour; Emile Henry deep-dish pie plates valued at $45; a $25 gift card to Kitchen and Cork; and measuring cups and spoons from Architec Housewares.

The deadline to register is Sept. 10. Call 885-5727. The rules of the contest and entry forms can be found at kitchenandcork.com/PieContest.html.

PORTLAND

Wine seminars to introduce American Sommelier here

American Sommelier, a wine education organization based in New York City, has started a state chapter and on Sept. 29 will launch a series of seven Sunday evening wine seminars.

The two-hour lectures and tastings will cover different wine-making regions each week. The sessions will be held at venues such as Vignola Cinque Terre and Caiola’s in Portland, and Earth at Hidden Pond in Kennebunkport.

The first seminar, “Build a Strong Foundation: An Introduction to Viticulture, Vinification and Tasting,” will be held at Vignola Cinque Terre, 10 Dana St., and will be led by Andrew F. Bell, co-founder of American Sommelier and the organization’s current president. Chris Peterman, a local alumnus, will lead the rest. (Peterman will manage the wine program at Central Provisions, a new restaurant owned by chef Chris Gould opening in the Old Port this fall.)

All of the seminars will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $60, with discounts for purchasing in quantity.

For more information or to register for a seminar, go to the Maine chapter’s website at americansommelier.com/maine.

Salvage BBQ & Smokehouse opens for just dinner, so far

Salvage BBQ & Smokehouse, the latest project from Portland restaurateur Jay Villani, opened to the public Sunday night.

Located at 919 Congress St., Salvage BBQ initially will be open Tuesday through Sunday for dinner (including take-out) starting at 5 p.m. Lunch will be added later.

The restaurant has an open kitchen, family seating and a full-service bar custom-built by Villani, with Maine microbrews on tap.

There’s parking behind the restaurant on Gilman Street and on the street throughout the neighborhood. For more information, call 553-2100 or go to facebook.com/SalvageBbqSmokehouse.

New cocktail bar to open with extended happy hour

Portland Hunt & Alpine Club, an eagerly anticipated cocktail bar at 75  Market St., will open its doors Thursday.

Owners Andrew and Briana Volk will “be offering an extended happy hour and starting our Fernet beach cruiser giveaway.”

– Compiled by Meredith Goad, Staff Writer