Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I highlight some interesting, upcoming food & drink events.
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1) A Taste of Ginger will be held on Monday, March 25, from 6:30pm-9:30pm, in the beautiful Art of the Americas Wing at the Museum of Fine Arts. Proceeds from A Taste of Ginger will benefit Joslin Diabetes Center’s Asian American Diabetes Initiative (AADI) which works to enhance the quality of life and health outcomes for the rising number of Asian Americans living with diabetes, and collaborates with Joslin as they work to find a cure.

Each year, hundreds of supporters and foodies gather to enjoy a lively evening, including the opportunity to meet and taste the cuisine of more than 30 of Boston’s most celebrated chefs such as Jasper White, Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery + Café, Tiffani Faison of Tiger Mama, Tracy Chang of PAGU, Sumiao Chen of Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, Jimmy Liang of Fuji at Ink Block, and Andy Husbands of The Smoke Shop BBQ, amidst the beauty of the MFA.

Culinary chair Bik-Fung Ng has been a committee member of A Taste of Ginger since its creation in 2005; she has more than 30 years of experience in the food industry and has been an activist in the Asian Community for many years, often collaborating with the AADI on nutrition-related projects. Longtime Joslin supporter and A Taste of Ginger founder Leverett Wing, whose parents helped establish the AADI at Joslin, will serve as event chair alongside Audrey Paek, a staple in the Boston nonprofit community, including time on the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence.

Emceed by Emmy-nominated NBC 10 Boston and NECN anchor and reporter Joy Lim Nakrin, the event will honor the founding families of one of Boston’s first and largest chef-centered fundraising events and will celebrate the substantial advances the AADI has made through research, education, outreach, and culturally appropriate treatments. This event will mark the 15th year that funds raised by supporters of A Taste of Ginger have helped fund the important work of the AADI.

I've attended this event multiple times and it always is a great time, with some amazing food, and it is all for an excellent cause.

TICKETS: Tickets are $250 per guest, and can be purchased online at:www.joslin.org/ginger

2) Cambridge Center for Adult Education (CCAE) has announced the chef line-up for its fundraiser, OF COURSE! 2019, taking place Sunday, April 28, at CCAE in the heart of Harvard Square. The event features a festive and interactive “Menu of Classes” at CCAE from 4:45pm-6:45pm and then the party continues as a brass band leads guests down the street to The Charles Hotel Ballroom. 

Guests will enter the ballroom to discover 17 of the city’s talented and much-appreciated chefs, restaurants and breweries presenting favorite food and drink for “A Taste of CCAE.” “It truly is a celebration of CCAE and the community” explains Linda Burton, executive director, CCAE. “At CCAE our goal is to bring education, conversation and the community together in a vibrant setting. April 28th will be one extraordinary evening where we salute not only our incomparable classes and inspired instructors, but also our wonderful supporters and many of Cambridge’s top chefs, vintners and breweries.”

There are 17 Cambridge chefs and restaurants participating:
Chef Jody Adams and Chef Pantazis Deligiannis, Saloniki
Chef Joanne Chang, Flour
Chef Tracy Chang, PAGU
Chef Peter Davis, Henrietta’s Table
Chef Carl Dooley, The Table at Season to Taste
Chef Mark Goldberg, Temple Bar
Chef Felipe Herrera, Felipe’s Taqueria
Chef Scott Jones, Luce
Chef Maura Kilpatrick, Sofra
Chef Tyler Kinnett, Harvest
Chef Tony Maws, Craigie on Main and Kirkland Tap & Trotter
Chef Peter McCarthy, EVOO and Za
Chef Michael Pagliarini, Benedetto and Giulia
Chef Kristen Rummel, Honeycomb Creamery
Chef Jeffrey Salazar, Parsnip
Chef Michael Scelfo, Alden & Harlow / Waypoint / Longfellow Bar
Chef Chris Willis, Pammy’s

The exclusive wine sponsor is 90+ Cellars, and an original OF COURSE! 2019 cocktail is being concocted by Bully Boy Distillers.

OF COURSE! 2019 is the CCAE’s primary fundraiser, providing resources to produce the 1200+ classes it presents each year, as well as to support its robust scholarship program, Conversations on the Edge discussion series, the Blacksmith House Poetry Series and its many other innovative programs and initiatives.

Time: 4:45pm-6:30pm: A Menu of Interactive Classes at 42 & 56 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA
6:45pm-7:00pm: Brass Band Parade from 42 Brattle Street to The Charles Hotel
7:00pm-9:00pm: OF COURSE! 2019 "Taste of CCAE" Gala Party at The Charles Hotel

Tickets cost $275 and are available through www.ccae.org/ofcourse2019