Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I briefly highlight some interesting wine and food items that I have encountered recently.
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1) On Sunday, November 24, from 6:30pm-10pm, JM Curley’s Revelry for Charity dinner series will continue, this time with Executive Chef Josh Lewin of Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro and Executive Chef Richard Kuo of New York City’s Pearl & Ash as well as a special appearance by Patrick Cappiello, Pearl and Ash’s wine director.

Revelry for Charity is an ongoing dinner series held at JM Curley one Sunday each month that features one local and one national chef working together to cook a multi-course feast paired with beverages. True to its name, each dinner raises funds for two charities of the featured chefs’ choice. This month Josh Lewin, executive chef of Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro will be donating his proceeds to the charity, Ground Operations, whose mission is to “strengthen the growing network of combat veterans transitioning into new careers in sustainable farming and ranching.” Ground operations helps these veterans create healthy new lives for themselves as well as create food security for many communities across America.

Pearl and Ash’s Richard Kuo and Patrick Cappiello, the national restaurant featured in this month’s series, will be donating their proceeds to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC). FHCRC’s mission is to eliminate cancer and related diseases and gives scientists the freedom to conduct creative research that has led to lifesaving discoveries and hundreds of thousands lives saves worldwide.

Join these celebrated chefs for a fun night full of food, fundraising and libations. Tickets are $125 per person and are available for purchase online. Following the dinner the revelry continues with an after party at Tavern Road in Fort Point beginning at 10:30PM (not included in ticket price).

Tickets are required and can be made by visiting this site.

2) Beat Hôtel, which fuses Parisian Avant-Garde with Harvard Square Jazz, just launched its new weekend brunch menu last Saturday.

Every Saturday and Sunday, from 10am-3pm, the brand new restaurant will serve weekend brunch accompanied by live jazz performances from local and internationally acclaimed performers. Beat Hôtel’s Executive Chef, Rebecca Newell, will serve a broad range of brunch fare ranging from more traditional items such as quiche made with spinach, kale, artichoke & feta served with frites & salad ($12), French toast with whipped cream and apple & pear compote ($12) and eggs benedict with choice of ham ($12) house smoked salmon ($13.50) or spinach ($12). Chef Newell will also be serving the eclectic takes that she’s become known such as Mexican tofu scramble, black beans, salsa, avocado and tortilla ($12.50).

For diners opt-ing for more lunch-like items Beat Hôtel will be serving a selection of sandwiches like the roast turkey sandwich with mayo, Swiss cheese, pickles, carrots, tomatoes on sunflower wheat ($13,50), tuna salad on wheat toast ($12.50) both served with slaw and frites. And it wouldn’t be Beat Hôtel with its already signature earth bowl, this time with two different offerings: the sun bowl: 5 whole grain pilaf, roasted & sautéed veggies with soy sauce and the guru bowl with autumn quinoa pilaf, cranberry, walnut, curry apple and lettuce. Customize them by adding poached eggs ($ 13.50), tofu scramble ($ 13.50), chopped sirloin ($15), grilled chicken ($15), wild salmon ($ 18.50), skirt steak* ($19), roasted tofu & seitan ($ 13.50)

Families are welcome, and children can munch on selections from Beat’s “Flower Children” menu including: kiddie scrambled eggs & toast ($7.50), grilled cheese ($7.50) and French toast ($7.50).

Guests are strongly encouraged to RSVP online or by calling Beat Hôtel at 617-499-0001.

3) Beginning this week, Nebo will be open for lunch, from Monday to Friday, 11:30am-2:00pm. The lunch menu includes spuckies, shareable antipasti, a few salads & sides, and piatti like the Bobby Flay Throwdown-winning zucchini lasagna and vitello Milanese, as well as salmone con fagioli, a light pan-seared salmon with white beans, parsley, evoo, and saba. With the addition of weekday lunch, Nebo is now open all day Monday-Friday, from 11:30am to close, with an abbreviated menu available at the bar between lunch & dinner service (2:00-4:30pm). This “in between” menu includes pizza, zucchini lasagna, and salads. On Saturdays, Nebo opens at 4:00pm.

The new Spuckies, inspired by the gourmet sandwiches served at rest stops along the Autostrada in Italy, are served on homemade ciabatta and include:
Autostrada – prosciutto de parma, mortadella, finocchiona salami, coppa, provolone, pepperonata
Roma – slow-roasted porchetta, fried egg, crispy onion rings, housemade tomato jam
Sicily – Italian tuna, egg wedge, cannellini beans, provolone, olive tapenade, aioli, tomato
Puglia – burratta, imported mortadella, tomato, saba, evoo
Teramo – meatballs in gravy, pecorino romano, asiago
Milano – crispy chicken Milanese, sautéed broccoli rabe, provolone, aioli
Lombardia – Peroni beer-battered Atlantic white fish, Italian slaw, sriracha aioli

4) The 2nd Annual Christmas in the City Kick-Off & Celebrity Holiday Tree Auction event will be Tuesday, December 3, from 6pm-8pm, at the Seaport Hotel. The evening will feature an auction of extraordinary Christmas trees lit and fully decorated by Mayor Thomas Menino and the Black and Gold’s left wing, #17 - Milan Lucic. 100% of money raised from this event will go to Christmas in the City, including ticket sales.

The Seaport Hotel will be providing tasty nibbles and a cash bar for guests to enjoy during the event; and the hotel will also be a toy drop off location for Christmas in the City. You can literally valet your toys, to make donating quick and easy!

Christmas in the City, a 100% volunteer organization, will hold its 25th Annual Holiday Party this year and is expecting to serve more children than last year when they hosted 4,000 children & Moms living in shelters or transitional housing at their celebration. The following day, they gave out 8,500 more gifts of toys and clothing to the families of boys and girls who have fallen on hard times and otherwise might find nothing under the tree.

Admission price is a donation of $20! Tickets are available at http://citc2013.eventbrite.com