Dining Notes
by Kay West
Future imperfect
As Home Depot is to Hillsboro Hardware, as Olive Garden is to Sole Mio, so is large-scale, industrial, corporate agriculture to regional family farms. Such is the theme of The Future of Food, the documentary by Deborah Koons Garcia, which screens Friday at The Belcourt Theatre. The compelling film, which Garcia—widow of the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia— financed and spent three years making, investigates the health and environmental issues surrounding genetically engineered crops and the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have been sneaking onto grocery shelves for the past decade. Shot on location in the United States, Canada and Mexico, The Future of Food examines the complex web of market and political forces changing what we eat, and it gives voice to the farmers whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by new technology. The film explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, including organic and sustainable agriculture. Friday’s screening is the centerpiece of an event designed to increase awareness of and support for local and regional farming, farmers’ markets and community-supported agriculture (CSAs). Local farmers will be in attendance to talk about their work and products.
The program begins at 6:30 p.m. with a reception and silent auction. The film screening will be followed by Q&A and a panel discussion with Garcia and The Barefoot Farmer Jeff Poppen, who owns Tennessee’s oldest organic farm, Long Hungry Creek Farm in Macon County, and appears regularly on WNPT’s The Volunteer Gardener.
Advance tickets, $15, are available through The Belcourt’s website, www.belcourt.org , or at the box office, 2102 Belcourt Ave. Proceeds will benefit the Tennessee Organic Growers Association (TOGA), a nonprofit, member-based organization that seeks to promote safe, nutritious, locally grown foods. The group will hold its annual statewide conference the following day at Tennessee State University. For more information about TOGA and the conference, contact Cindy Delvin of Delvin Farms at chdelvin@aol.com.
Taste buds
Mafiaoza’s Pizzeria, which nearly shuts down vehicular traffic on 12th Avenue South every Tuesday with pedestrian spillover from its Two-For-Tuesday crowd, is hoping alliteration might prove just as successful with Wine Wednesdays, informal classes featuring the grapes of Italy. Tastings will be conducted from 6-7:30 p.m. by Mark Johnson, former sommelier at Sunset Grill, a wine writer and 16-year veteran of the industry. For $15 per person, six wines from different regions will be sampled and explained, and a meat-and-cheese tasting menu that complements the evening’s fleet will be available afterward. On April 12, white wines of Southern Italy are featured, accompanied by these tongue-twisting cheeses: Langa Caprino Pura Capra, Siliano Caciocavello D.O.P. and Provolone au Ruicchio. Attendees will also receive a 15 percent discount at neighboring Corrieri’s Formaggeria on items purchased Thursday or Friday from the more than 50 Italian cheeses and meats owner Brett Corrieri carries, along with breads and specialty food and service items. Mafiaoza’s, 2400 12th Ave. S., 385-9272, reservations recommended; Corrieri’s, 1110 Caruthers Ave., 385-9272, www.cfcheese.com.
Wine enthusiasts can also sample different grapes at Wednesday night’s Grape Crush, presented by The Grape. From 5-7 p.m., guests pick three whites or three reds from the featured wines of the week for just $10, while nibbling on cheeses, hummus and other finger foods. The informal offering—no wine-speak, just quaffing—changes weekly. Live music kicks in on the patio at 6 p.m. On Saturday afternoons between noon and three, The Grape’s wine director pours and describes wines at your table—four for $8—with an occasional cameo appearance from the premium wine list. The Grape is in Spaces, 6000 Highway 100, 353-5604.
The Trace, the first of the bunch to dub Wednesday nights Wine Time, presents tasting tutorials from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at 2000 Belcourt Ave. A sampler plate of bites is also included in the $20 fee; reservations recommended at 385-2200.
Taste of Morocco
Margot Café & Bar presents a wine dinner Tuesday, April 11 at 6:45 p.m., featuring the exotic cuisine of Morocco: marinated eggplant flatbread, hulemi cheese, homemade merquez sausage, fish tagine and a napoleon with layers of almond, onion and caramelized plantain. Reservations required, 227-4668; $80 per person.
Send food news to kwest@nashvillescene.com
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