CAPE ELIZABETH

Land trust’s meeting has Kitchen Gardeners founder

Roger Doiron, the founder and director of Kitchen Gardeners International, will be the featured speaker at the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust’s annual meeting Nov. 4.

The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Inn by the Sea, 40 Bowery Beach Road. Admission is free for members and is limited to the first 100 people to register. Nonmembers who register will be asked for a modest donation to the land trust.

The evening will include a cash bar and light refreshments. Reservations are required and can be made by calling 767-6054 or emailing [email protected].

PORTLAND

Second guest chef night set for Oct. 25 at Carmen

Chef Carmen Gonzalez continues her guest chef series Oct. 25, when renowned Boston chef Barbara Lynch joins her at Carmen at the Danforth.

The menu hasn’t been written yet, but Gonzalez said she plans to serve Spanish wines at the dinner. Food writer Joe Ricchio, a representative of South Portland Wine Co., will be pouring.

The evening will be similar to the first guest chef night July 25, when Chicago chef Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia came to Portland to cook Italian. Gonzalez does not know Lynch as well as she knows Mantuano, but chose her for the second guest chef dinner because she appreciates Lynch’s food and style.

“I have been to quite a few of her restaurants, and I have always admired what she does,” Gonzalez said.

Lynch, best known for No. 9 Park, was named “Best Chef Northeast” by the James Beard Foundation in 2003. Both the chef and No. 9 Park have received numerous accolades over the years. This year, her fine dining restaurant Menton, located in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood, became the first Relais & Chateaux property in Boston, and received AAA’s Five Diamond Award and Forbes Travel Guide’s Five-Star Award.

As CEO of Barbara Lynch Gruppo, the chef oversees the operation of eight “concepts” and employs more than 200 people in her businesses. She is the only female chef to hold the title of Grand Chef Relais & Chateaux.

The event at Carmen at the Danforth will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:30. Seats will be priced at $95, all inclusive. For reservations, call 879-8755 .

Whole Foods event will pair wines and artisanal cheeses

Vince Razionale of the award-winning Cellars at Jasper Hill will be at Whole Foods Market on Friday night to pair artisanal cheeses with a selection of wines chosen by the Whole Foods wine buyer.

The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. and costs $15.

Cellars at Jasper Hill, located in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, is a network of seven underground vaults where artisanal cheeses are tested, tasted and aged until they are just right for market. This bridge between small-scale producers and large-scale markets allows the producers to concentrate on technique.

Space for this event is limited, so advance payment and registration are required. This is a 21-plus event, with identification required.

Whole Foods is located at 2 Somerset. For more information or to register, call 774-7711.

Salt Exchange will host benefit for marathoner

The Salt Exchange, 245 Commercial St., will host a charity fundraiser from 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 25 in support of Steve Byrnes, a Portland resident who is running the New York City Marathon for the National Arthritis Foundation.

There will be live music from Flight of Fancy, drink specials and tasting menu selections. Guests will be able to donate funds to help Byrnes reach his goal of $3,000.

Reservations are not required for the lounge portion of the event, but are recommended for dinner. Call 347-5687.

Pig roast will raise funds for composting program

Rosemont Market and Bakery and the Rosemont Produce Co. are holding an event Sunday at St. Lawrence Church called “Harvest in the Hood.”

The event, which will be held from 4 to 7 p.m., features a pig roast and cider, wine and beer tastings, Rosemont desserts, composting demonstrations, music and pumpkin carving. The church is located at 66 Congress St. on Munjoy Hill.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children. Proceeds will go to the Garbage to Garden Curbside Composting program.

Coffee-roasting authors will appear at open house

James and Caitlin Freeman, founders of Blue Bottle Coffee, one of the country’s leading artisan coffee roasters, will be the focus of an open house from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Tandem Coffee Roasters, 122 Anderson St.

The Freemans recently published a book, “The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee: Growing, Roasting and Drinking, with Recipes” (Ten Speed Press, $24.99), and will be on hand to sell and sign it. The co-host of the open house is Rabelais, a culinary book store based in Biddeford.

There will be Tandem coffee to sample, as well as baked goods featured in the book. Guests will also be able to tour the Tandem Coffee Roaster facilities.

Advocacy group will screen film about Nestle’s water

The extraction and bottling of water by multinational corporations has become increasingly controversial in recent years. Here in Maine, the controversy has centered on Poland Spring, a brand owned by Nestle, a Swiss company long dogged by charges of unethical practices.

Today, the Maine chapter of the national consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch hosts a free screening of “Bottled Life: The Truth About Nestle’s Business With Water.”

Produced by Swiss journalist Res Gehringer, the documentary film investigates how Nestle turned water into a billion-dollar business. Gehringer’s investigation takes him to Maine and around the world, including stops in Nigeria and Pakistan. The result is an unflattering portrait of the company’s motivations and tactics.

The film prompted Nestle, which declined to participate in the film, to launch a website at nestle-waters.com/BottledLife.html “to answer the allegations made in Bottled Life.”

Food & Water Watch is currently working on a Water for the People campaign to “dismantle Nestle’s hold on groundwater resources and to declare Maine’s groundwater in the public trust.”

The screening takes place at 6 p.m. at Think Tank, 533 Congress St., Portland. For more information or to RSVP for the screening, call 619-5845. View more information about the film at bottledlifefilm.com.

UNITY

Maine Apple Day to include apple identification, more

Have you always wondered about an ancient apple tree on your property? Then pick one of the fruits and bring it to the Great Maine Apple Day on Sunday, and see if the experts can identify your mystery apple.

Maine has a long history as an apple-producing state. And while many trees were chopped down during Prohibition (since making hard cider was one of the primary purposes of apples in days gone by), some of these old and treasured varieties still linger in overgrown pastures and along the edges of neglected homesteads. Others continue to grow in commercial orchards, despite efforts in the 1920s to standardize the market and severely limit the number of varieties grown in Maine.

According to Maine apple expert John Bunker, hundreds of apple varieties once grew across the state, with roughly 200 varieties originating in Maine. Today, Bunker maintains the Maine Heritage Orchard at the headquarters of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association in Unity, where the apple festival will be held.

In addition to apple identification, the event features workshops on cider making, organic tree care, Maine’s apple history and apple art. Vendors will sell apples, cider and apple products, along with wine, chocolate, honey and cheeses. Those who attend will have a chance to sample a wide variety of apples.

The Great Maine Apple Day takes place rain or shine from noon to 4 p.m. at the Common Ground Education Center, 294 Crosby Brook Road. Tickets cost $4, or $2 for members of MOFGA and the Maine Pomological Society. For more information, visit mofga.org.

SKOWHEGAN

Giffords’ vanilla bean takes top honor at dairy expo

Giffords Ice Cream took home a top honor from this year’s World Dairy Expo held earlier this month in Madison, Wis.

The fifth-generation, family-owned dairy was named the Ice Cream Grand Champion for its vanilla bean ice cream. The ice cream is made with Maine milk and cream, sugar and vanilla bean flakes. Giffords earned Grand Champion Awards in 2011 and 2010 for its chocolate ice cream. The company has also won best-of-category awards at the expo in the past, for French vanilla in 2011, orange sherbet in 2011 and 2008 and old-fashioned vanilla in 2007.

SOUTH PORTLAND

Maine Restaurant Week will take place March 1-10

The dates for the fifth annual Maine Restaurant Week have been set for March 1-10.

The 10-day dining-out fest will kick off March 1 with The Incredible Breakfast Cook-Off and conclude March 10 with The Signature Event, a dessert and cocktail competition.

Tickets to those events already are available at brownpapertickets.com.

Maine restaurants are encouraged to register by Nov. 1. Go to mainerestaurantweek.com or call 775-2126.

Why register by Nov. 1? This year there will also be a contest that runs through November for diners who eat out at registered restaurants. Customers will “check in” at the restaurants to win gift certificates and overnight stays at local hotels. Details will be announced soon through the Maine Restaurant Week website, Facebook and Twitter.

The last Restaurant Week pumped an estimated $1.5 to $2 million into Maine’s economy, according to organizers at gBritt, a South Portland public relations firm. The 2013 event will raise funds for United Way of Greater Portland’s programs and partner agencies.

– Compiled by Meredith Goad and Avery Yale Kamila