BOOTHBAY

Chef brings his Jamaican roots to botanical gardens

Chef Ray Franklyn of Solo Bistro in Bath will do the cooking for the Kitchen Garden Series Dinner at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens on Sunday. The meal will begin at 6 p.m.

Reservations are required, and must be made by Friday.

Franklyn grew up in Portland Parish, Jamaica, working in his mother’s restaurant, before getting his formal culinary training. He moved to southern Maine to help open a large restaurant. Most recently, before moving to Solo Bistro, he was the sous chef at Walter’s in Portland.

The cost of the dinner is $75 for garden members and $90 for non-members. The price includes wine, tax and gratuity. For reservations, call 633-4333, ext. 101.

Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is located on Barters Island Road, and is open year-round. Admission is free from Nov. 1 until April.

FALMOUTH

Extension to offer winter master gardener classes

Want to become a master gardener? The University of Maine Cooperative Extension in Cumberland County is offering a training course that will begin Jan. 31 at its facility at 75 Clearwater Drive.

The 2014 Master Gardener Training Program will focus on fruits and vegetables and be held on 16 consecutive Friday afternoons. A master gardener receives about 50 hours of practical training in horticulture and completes a minimum of 40 hours of approved volunteer work on various community projects around the county.

Participants must be residents of Cumberland County and are selected through an application process. Application packets are available through the Cumberland County Extension office at 781-6099 or through an online site, umaine.edu/cumberland/programs/mg app cumb.

The deadline for submitting applications is Dec. 27.

KENNEBUNK

Literary folk, cuisine come to life at Literary Feast

A Literary Feast, Vol. II, will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, according to the Kennebunk Free Library.

This year’s event features an evening of thematic dinner parties that will be held in homes throughout the Kennebunks and Wells. Each dinner will focus on the food and theme of a specific book, including Pat Conroy’s “South of Broad” and “Under the Tuscan Sun” by Frances Mayes. Reading the book is not required.

Tickets are $60 per person, and are available at the library. All proceeds benefit the Kennebunk Free Library.

For more information on the books or dinners, call the library at 985-2173 or visit their website at kennebunklibrary.org.

PORTLAND

Underutilized fish species will be focus of dinner

Five Fifty-Five is next in line for the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s seafood dining series, featuring sustainable, local species that are underused by chefs and home cooks.

The four-course dinner starts at 6 p.m. Nov. 20 at the restaurant, located at 555 Congress St. It costs $60 per person, or $90 with wine pairings.

For reservations, call 761-0555 and mention the GMRI dinner.

Patron will be featured at next Zapoteca dinner

Zapoteca will hold its next tequila dinner at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Chef Shannon Bard will prepare a five-course dinner paired with several varieties of Patron tequila. Sergio Ramos, the restaurant’s tequila sommelier – and the only tequila sommelier in the Northeast – will be on hand to talk about the different varieties, explain how tequila is produced and answer questions.

Courses include a pan-seared duck breast with fig-nut mole paired with Patron Reposado, and a chile-rubbed venison with house-made sausage and Oaxacan red mole, Huitacoche flan and grilled mushrooms.

Tickets are $75. Call 772-8242 to make a reservation. Zapoteca is located at 505 Fore St.

Chinese dumpling house to open in the West End

The West End Deli is moving, and a restaurant featuring Chinese dumplings is already under construction in its place.

Chef Cara Stadler, who owns Tao Yuan in Brunswick (rated 41/2 stars by former Press Herald restaurant critic Nancy Heiser in January), confirmed last week that the basement of the building at 133 Spring St. (owned by her parents, John and Cecile Stadler), is being excavated and the space will be reconfigured into a single-level restaurant.

It is expected to open in April or May, and that small swath of Spring Street should go from sleepy to bustling, with Miyake Diner in the works just a few doors away.

In other news from Tao Yuan, persimmons, Brussels sprouts and celeriac have returned to the menu, while at the bar, pumpkin-infused bourbon is mixed into a Pumpkin Flip cocktail.

“Our pan-seared duck breast is now accompanied by caramelized fresh cranberries, pommes Dauphinoise and orange cranberry marmalade; we have stored up enough duck fat to have duck-fat fries and whiskey compound butter with our Pu’er tea smoked hanger steak; and a harvest of root vegetables and chilies flavors our Hunan spare ribs,” the chef wrote in an email.

Stadler is also replacing her Wednesday Date Night menus with a nightly chef’s tasting menu – eight to 12 courses of the chef’s choosing, enough so that everyone at the table can enjoy a tasting portion of each dish. The entire table must order the tasting menu, and the price is $45 per person, with a discounted price on Wednesdays.

Tao Yuan’s next Dim Sum Sunday brunch will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 24. Reservations are strongly recommended.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H.

Fundraiser to benefit new Earth, Sea & Space Center

A beer-and-food event called Salute to the Seacoast will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the Sheraton Harborside, 250 Market St.

Brewers on tap will include Smuttynose, Shipyard, Moat Mountain, Tuckerman’s Ale and more.

The food will be provided by the Sheraton and will include mini bratwursts, spanakopita, mini beef Wellingtons, chicken quesadillas, crab risotto cakes with red pepper aioli, and cheese plates. The dessert selection will include mousse, dessert bars and a make-your-own s’mores station.

The event, a kick-off fundraiser for the Earth, Sea & Space Center in Dover, N.H., will also feature live music, a silent auction and a beer raffle.

Tickets are $50 per person and are available via PayPal at earthseaspacemuseum.org.

For more information, call (603) 436-7778.

– Compiled by Meredith Goad, Staff Writer