Quick Bites: Cultura en fuego (photos), fried chicken pop-up, chef duel, scotch.

Something special is happening off Dolores in Carmel at Cultura Comida y Bebida (250-7005).

Yet, with all the excitement Cultura is conjuring on the plate and the palate, its team somehow ratcheted that up with its first collaborative dinner.

Hence I'm praying to the Oaxaqueño gods they'll do more.

The dinner showcased a number of elements that make Cultura a media darling and the sexiest restaurant to hit Carmel in a generation, at least. (It helps to extend media invites, as they did for this dinner.)

Those elements include connections to Oaxaca, intuitive wine pairings, inventive fare and some striking mezcals (get more with the photos and captions above).

Executive Chef Julio Aguilera of super trendy El Destilado of Oaxaca City center—whose @eldestilado Instagram feed is worth a peek—shared the kitchen with Cultura Exec Chef Michelle Estigoy, whose grandma owned a restaurant in southern Mexico.

What emerged—nuanced lamb barbacoa, rice "chicharrones" and smoked mole machamanteles among the many highlights—rose to the level of the delicious drinks and the other featured guest star of the night, small-small-small-batch Cinco Sentidos mezcal.

Cinco Sentidos, thanks to historic practices and those tiny outputs, accomplishes something to admire with its roughly 100 proof mezcals: Each of its various Papalometl and Ixtero Amarillo agave distillates proves smooth and clearly related, but each simultaneously enjoys its own magnetic identity.

And as good as the three mezcals were, Cultura partner Sarah Kabat-Marcy's wine pairings were every bit as good.

A Hexamer Riesling from Nahe, Germany, delivered a whisper of sweet preordained for the quiet heat of the lamb barbacoa; a light red Trousseau from Jura, France revealed itself as a sublime partner with the similarly subtle and layered halibut.

More quick news items appear here:

• Tonight—Monday, Oct. 3—Todd Fisher (Tarpy's Roadhouse) and Folktale ring-lead the first of a monthly Chef Duel 6-9pm. Tony Baker (Montrio Bistro) and Fabrice Roux (Roux) each get four basic ingredients and a mystery item to craft a dish. Fisher narrates live on KRML ($12, www.folktalewinery.com).

• A most promising pop-up cometh: jeninni kitchen + wine bar (920-2662) host master somm Chris Blanchard Sunday, Oct. 23, for a night of fried chicken, biscuits, mac 'n' cheese, collard greens and quince tarts for a very reasonable $36++, with a range of standout bubblies available for pairing.

• The 28th Annual Taste of Carmel (624-2522) happens Oct. 6-9. Thursday (Oct. 6) brings the lush opening gala ($130) to Carmel Mission with dozens of local wineries and stylish bites from 20 local restaurants like Anton & Michel and Basil Seasonal Dining. Food and movie tours continue for the next three days. 

• Saturday, Oct. 8, Jacques Pépin visits Sunset Center for a demo/presentation with his daughter Claudine.

• Last week Oceana released a poll revealing 83 percent of Americans support new requirements focused on eliminating seafood fraud in the United States, including requiring that key information such as what type of fish it is, and how and where it was caught or farmed, follows our seafood from boat to plate. Right on cue for National Seafood Month.

• The Drummond Culinary Academy at Rancho Cielo (444-3533) kicks off the new school year by serving dinner to the public every Friday evening from 5:30-7:30pm beginning Oct. 14. A spacious, glassed-in outdoor patio overlooking the Salinas Valley serves as the setting for the three-course prix fixe menu ($30) prepared and served by students under the direction of Executive Chef Patrick Hendon. Reservations via 444-3521.

• The Monterey County Hospitality Association has partnered with Monterey-Salinas Transit to provide free transit passes to hospitality employees. Each MST Basic GoPass, valued at $95, allows unlimited travel for 31 days on bus lines that normally cost $2.50 or $1.50. More information can be found at: www.mst.org

• It's National Pizza Month and Knuckles (372-1234) is serious about it with The Hashtag Pizza with pepperoni, sausage, strips of bacon, ham, an onion ring tower and Buffalo sauce drizzled on top.

• Mulligan Public House, from the same team that ran Brophy’s Tavern for years, is on the fairway—and on course to open—mid-October after making it through the Carmel planning commission.

• Big Sur Food & Wine appears on the horizon Nov. 3-5. Tickets for the likes of Magical Mystery Tours, Pinot Walkabouts and Hiking with Stemware are now on sale at the BSFW Eventbrite page.

• Glenmorangie Scotch Dinner at Rio Grill ($95, 625-5436) flows 6pm Thursday, Oct. 20 with four courses and a gamut of single malt scotch from a 173-year-old distillery. Rio does these dinners with aplomb.

John Saleem contributed to this report.