What's Cooking

Get Out!

by Erin Mae Szrankowski

Now in its 11th year, Chestnut Hill College's annual Empty Bowl Dinner benefits the Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network, a nonprofit that offers aid to homeless families. Local artisans provide hand-crafted clay bowls, which you can take home — but not before sampling an array of eats from local restaurants and purveyors. Adobe Café, Alison Two, Bitar's, Bocelli, Geechee Girl Rice Café, Jake's, Tiffin and the Trolley Car Diner are just a few of the 60-plus participants this year. Chestnut Hill College, Sorgenti Arena, 9601 Germantown Ave., 215-247-4663.

This one goes out to all my ladies. Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune, authors of The Naked Pint: An Unadulterated Guide to Craft Beer (Perigree Books), will celebrate the release of their book at Ellen Yin's Fork. (Beer sommeliers both, the authors cover beer history and varieties, home brewing, tasting tips and more.) Joining them will be female representatives from breweries both local and national — come meet Suzy Woods (Sly Fox), Megan Maguire (Ommegang), Tracy Mulligan and Whitney Thompson (Victory), Seb Buhler (Rogue), Jodi Stoudt (Stoudt's) and Wendy Dormant (Dogfish Head). Each lady will bring along samples to go along with a dinner of tapas (housemade chorizo with spicy white beans, salmon rillettes, etc.), seared sea scallops, smoked duck breast and chocolate caramel tart. Fork, 306 Market St., 215-625-9425, forkrestaurant.com.

The actual World Series maybe over, but Philly and New York still have one saucy battle left. The Frank Rizzo mural lot at Ninth and Montrose in the Italian Market will serve as a battleground to see which city has the best red gravy. Representing the Illadelph is former Philly broadcaster Lorraine Ranalli, who wrote Gravy Wars, South Philly Foods, Feuds & Attytudes (Folger Ross); defending NYC is caterer and columnist Johnny DeCarlo. (Please note that the dude is actually from Jersey. Figures.) Passers-by can vote for their favorite, so make sure you get out there to support our girl. If you head over to Cannuli's Quality Meats & Poultry (937 S. Ninth St.) an hour before the competition, Ranalli will be signing copies of Gravy Wars. Italian Market, Ninth and Montrose streets.

'Tis the season to start getting into holiday beers, and the Winter Beer Fest is the perfect opportunity to find your favorite. Head down to the Navy Yard to grab winter beer samples from about 50 breweries, including Clipper City Brewing Co., Wild Goose Brewery, Breckenridge Brewery and Dark Horse Brewing Co., along with local faves like Dock Street and Flying Fish. Elsewhere, there'll be cooking demos from Robert Legget of Cuba Libre and Jeremy Nolen of Brauhaus Schmitz, a history presentation from local beer historian Rich Wagner, home-brewing classes and more. There are three sessions on both days of the fest, with various entry prices; tix available online. Navy Yard, 5100 S. Broad St., winterbeerfest.com.