MAY 16
LOS ANGELES
A Culinary Evening with California Winemasters: Wining and dining on a Warner Bros. movie set sounds like a terrific evening. This 20th annual gala, which benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, brings together star chefs from the state such as Christopher Kennedy Aken of a.k.a. a Bistro in St. Helena, James Bailey of Citron at Viceroy Palm Springs in Palm Springs, Calif., and Rory Herrmann of Bouchon in Beverly Hills and Yountville, and Las Vegas. Most California producers will be represented and will match wines with such dishes as house-cured Tasmanian sea trout and curried Dungeness crab salad. Cost is $350. www.californiawinemasters.org, 323-655-8525.
JUNE 13-20
AMALFI COAST, ITALY
Walking With Wine: Visits to wineries, lemon groves, ceramics shops, and Mount Vesuvius are part of this weeklong tour. Included are group events and free time in towns such as Ravello, Positano, Amalfi, and the island of Capri. A walk along the mountain road high above the sea, Walk of the Gods, culminates the week. The tour is approximately $1,034, not including airfare. www.walkingwith wine.co.uk, 011-44-015-72-756515. MAY 19-23
NEW ORLEANS
New Orleans Wine & Food Experience: This 18th annual extravaganza is a way to see the Crescent City beyond Mardi Gras. Some of the events are a series of dinners at such restaurants as Arnaud, Bayona, Commander's Palace, Le Petite Grocery, and Restaurant August. The Royal Street Stroll is an al fresco wine tasting accompanied by jazz bands and visits to art and antiques galleries along the French Quarter street. Wine and food seminars and a celebrity event with such chefs as Michel Richard of Citronelle in Washington, D.C., Paul Kahan of Blackbird in Chicago, and Hosea Rosenberg, Bravo's Top Chef Season 5, fill out the five-day festival. Costs range from about $75 to over $125. www.nowfe.com, 504-529-9463.
PLAN AHEAD
JUNE 29-JULY 5
ISLE OF MAN Queenie Festival: This quirky event celebrates queen scallops, or queenies, as they are called on the Isle of Man in the center of the Irish Sea. The weeklong event includes seafood barbeques, live music, cooking demonstrations, talks by marine specialists, and recipe contests. And of course plenty of queenies to eat. www.queeniefestival.com.
ALISON ARNETT
Events are sometimes canceled, rescheduled, or sold out; check online to confirm. Alison Arnett can be reached at alacarte59@aol.com.
