UPDATE: In the mild overwhelm that is this weekend, two more events deserve inclusion here.
The first is a biggie, bursting with clever literary off-shoots and social undertakings like tonight's "speakeasy" party and going all weekend long: The Steinbeck Festival. (Walter Ryce discusses much of it with his art piece this week, "The Steinbeck Festival revisits the 75-year-old classic Grapes of Wrath.")
The other suffered from long lines and limited beverage access the first time around, which means the latest Street Food Fair noon-5pm at Monterey County Fair and Event Center (free admission) should be much improved, with around a dozen vendors doing stylish and different food like Vietnamese street fare (O Mi Ninja), Lebanese tastes (Maha's) and lobster rolls (Shack Mobil).
One nice bonus nugget with the SFF at the Fair Center: The Kentucky Derby party jumping off at Monterey Bay Race Place, where mint juleps will flow.
•••
Some call this food season.
Not so much for the peaches and strawberries coming to harvest, but the sequence of food centric events that began with the swanky GourmetFest, boomed with Pebble Beach Food & Wine and continues with Cooking for Solutions May 16-18.
A tasty piece of the season comes this weekend and stars Saturday, May 3, when two big, fun and original food-and-garden events—Monterey County Vintners & Growers' Winemaker Celebration and MEarth Day—happen concurrently within maybe two miles in Carmel.
But first there's a renaissance happening in Sand City Thursday, May 1, as Indy Marketplace takes on its third iteration (after the sweeping famers market parties and first Thursday pop-up dinners).
This time it gets even more hipster, if that's possible, by centering the swirl of farm-fresh foodstuffs and craft purveyors around a relentless sequence of DIY workshops.
The "DIY University" includes no fewer than 15 tutorials over five hours (4-9pm), with everything from "Jumpstart Your Spring Garden" (4:20pm) to DIY Sundresses (6pm) to The Secret to Shucking Oysters (8pm).
Meanwhile, wine from Ian Brand & Family, beer from Post No Bills Craft Beer house, soda from 3 of a Kind, cold-pressed juice from Central Coast Juicery, plus grub from Maha‘s Lebanese Cuisine, Back Porch Santa Cruz and Local Catch Monterey Bay are available for purchase.
And live music from King’s Quartet, Valley Soul and Celsius Maximus plays.
Get $10 tickets at Brown Paper Tickets and more info on the Indy Facebook page.
Friday may be best reserved for some rest.
Or not—because here comes Small Bites for Big Hunger at All Saints' Church ($50) with Jean Hubert (Le St. Tropez), Brad Briske (La Balena), Rich Pepe (Vesuvio/Little Napoli), Soerke Peters (Basil) and Brandon Miller (Mundaka)—as they team with wineries including Wrath, Ventana, Sheid, Chesebro and McIntyre Vineyards.
Whew.
Then Saturday is here, with MCVGA's flagship event ($65) 1-5pm on Dolores Avenue (street party!) in adorable Carmel, suddenly the seventh coolest foodie "city" in the whole U. S. of A.
Scores of largely small-batch wines from Arroyo Seco, Santa Lucia Highlands and Carmel Valley, often poured by the winemaker or vineyard owner, flow. Then there are small bites from local chefs, cooking and pairing demonstrations, workshops on winemaking and spirited live music.
A VIP experience ($95) starts 1-2pm; get more on the MCVGA website.
The multifaceted Mother Earth celebration at MEarth runs 10am-4pm the same day—and has grown into a sustainability super party with no small amount of flavor itself.
Students rev a smoothie-making bike and visitors nibble on edible flowers, wood-fired pizzas from the big Old World-style outdoor oven, organic salads fresh from the lush student gardens and bake sale desserts by the star pastry chefs of Aubergine and Post Ranch.
Also on tap: A range of vendors share farm-fresh produce, local nature paintings, silk screen MEarth t-shirt treatments and even a fancy Tesla. Dave Holodiloff plucks bluegrass; folk duo Anne and Pete Sibley also play. Baby goats hang with the kiddies. A California native plant sale spreads the love to home gardens. Hands-on eco-craft projects engage the entire family.
It happens at Hilton Bialek Habitat next to Carmel Middle School, 4380 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel. Entry is $5. More at 624-1032 or the MEarth website.
Bonus gardening action happens down Carmel Valley Road from MEarth with the 45th Annual Garden Show at Hidden Valley Music Seminars 10am-4pm Saturday and Sunday (free admission).
Earthbound Farms presents "Thriving and Prevailing During Drought"; raffles raise money and score winners prizes; The Ice Box dishes ice cream; Kiki Wow provides live music; a wine and beer bar complements barbecue and cookies; a floral arrangement competition ups the ante; and garden items and horticultural experts proliferate.
In other words: Dig in. 'Tis the season.
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