This weekend

Bravo Brasserie, 123 Empire St., Providence, (401) 490-5112, bravobrasserie.com, hosts a dinner and drag cabaret featuring Jacqueline DiMera with special guest LaDiva Jonz and host Haley Star, Saturday, Sept. 12. The $40 ticket includes a three-course dinner and the show. Reservations are also being taken for the next Murder On Us Murder Mystery Dinner Theater performance Sept. 18. Call for details.

The Foster Center Volunteer Fire Company, 86 Foster Center Rd. (Route 94), Foster, holds an All-You-Can-Eat Italian Dinner Saturday, Sept. 12, 5 to 7 p.m., at the fire station. The dinner includes homemade sauce and meatballs with pasta, sausage, bread, salad and desserts. Tickets will be sold at the door; $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 7 to 10, free for children 6 and younger. Proceeds benefit the all-volunteer fire company.

Panera Bread’s bakery-cafés invite customers to its Discovery Day event Thursday, Sept. 10, to taste free samples of its new barbecued chicken chopped salad and Napa almond chicken salad sandwich, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to closing; breakfast power sandwich, from opening to 11 a.m.; pumpkin spice latte, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 2 to 5 p.m.; and fudge brownies and macadamia blondies from 2 p.m. to closing. In addition, when customers purchase a loaf of bread or six or more bagels during Discovery Day, the participating Panera bakery-café will donate a portion of the proceeds to Children’s Friend & Services, their local Operation Dough-Nation organization. Area participating Panera locations include East Greenwich (1000 Division St.); Cranston (5 New London Ave.); Smithfield (180 Smithfield Crossing); Newport (49 Long Wharf Mall); Warwick (1000 Bald Hill Rd.), Wakefield (160 Old Tower Hill Rd.), North Attleboro (1250 South Washington St.) and Seekonk (201 Highland Ave).

St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 74 Harris Ave., Woonsocket, hosts its Ukrainian Food and Fun Festival Sunday, Sept. 13, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The celebration of Ukrainian foods, pastries and culture features varenyky (pierogies), holubsti (stuffed cabbage), kovbasa (kielbasa), fried cabbage and more. The restaurant provides eat-in or take-out service. Baked items include cheesecake, cookies, pies and traditional Ukrainian desserts. A Ukrainian Marketplace is also featured. Event admission is free.

Coming up

The Jamestown School District, in partnership with food service management company Sodexo, celebrates the back-to-school harvest season with a lunch prepared from local ingredients. In an effort to support the local Rhode Island food economy and promote Rhode Island-grown foods and farms, the All Local Lunch will be served in Jamestown schools on Tuesday, Sept. 15. The menu features fruit and vegetables from Schartner Farms, Exeter; breads from Village Hearth Bakery, Jamestown; and Rhody Fresh milk, and includes main dishes of eggplant Parmesan, vegetable pizza, stir fry with bok choy, and a spinach salad. Sides include a roasted veggie medley and a fruit basket, with fresh fruit tarts for dessert.

Join the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters and Farmstead to learn about, taste and create masterful mixed drinks at La Laiterie, Wayland Square, Providence, with host Chris Amirault, director of eG Forums for the eGullet Society and a certified mixologist through BarSmarts Wired. The first session in this Classic Cocktail Master Series is Monday, Sept. 28, and the cost is $45. To register, call (401) 274-7177 or visit oreric@farmsteadinc.com.

Hemenway’s Seafood Grill and Oyster Bar and Waterman Grille will host the 5th annual Oyster Festival at Memorial Park (adjacent to Hemenway’s), 121 South Main St., Providence, Saturday, Sept. 26, 1 to 5 p.m. There will be a selection of the region’s best shellfish and Canadian oysters; native littlenecks; shrimp cocktail; clam chowder and clam cakes from Hemenway’s; Waterman Grille’s wood-fired grilled pizzas and beef skewers. A variety of beer and wine will also be available, including Newport Storm’s Castle Hill Windward Weiss, Edison Beer, Harbor Town Sauvignon Blanc and Gallo Wines. Proceeds benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Providence.

Holy Apostles Church, 800 Pippin Orchard Rd., Cranston, (401) 946-5586, holds its Fall Festival on the church grounds Thursday, Sept. 24, through Sunday, Sept. 27. The event features pasta with meatballs and chicken cutlets, clam cakes and chowder, calamari, doughboys, sausage and peppers, ice cream and desserts and beer and wine. The festival is open until 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, and Sunday, Sept. 27, until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 25 and 26.

Chef and cookbook author Normand Leclair will serve small samples and then demonstrate how to prepare several different appetizers and desserts Monday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. at the North Kingstown Free Library, 100 Boone St., North Kingstown. Leclair, author of Culinary Expressions and owner of the former Red Rooster Tavern, will prepare bruschetta, Mexican roll-ups, Grand-Marnier lime bananas, cherries jubilee and more. The cost is $5. Advance, limited registration. Call (401) 294-3306 or visit nklibrary.org.

Mohegan Sun, Cabaret Theatre, Mohegan Sun Boulevard (exit 79A off Route 395), Uncasville, Conn., (888) 226-7711, mohegansun.com, will host a Winning Authors event on Thursday, Sept. 24, at 7 p.m. Authors Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough discuss and sign their new book, Cooking Know-How.

Smith-Appleby House Museum, 220 Stillwater Rd., Smithfield, (401) 233-2679, will host its Apple Social on Sunday, Sept. 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. Homemade apple desserts and ice cream will be served while they last. The cost is $4 per dessert and includes a beverage.

On the menu

Castle Hill Inn & Resort, 590 Ocean Drive, Newport, (401) 849-3800, castlehillinn.com, has new tasting menus for the end of summer. Guests can choose from a Three-Course Menu, a Five-Course Tasting Menu and an Eight-Course Degustation Menu.

September is Lobsterfest month at George’s of Galilee, 250 Sand Hill Cove Rd., Narragansett. On the menu are twin lobsters for $25 or triples for $39 prepared in a variety of ways. There’s even lobster ale and lobster ice cream. (401) 783-2306, georgesofgalilee.com.

LaSalle Bakery, 993 Smith St., Providence, (401) 228-0081, carries a line of gluten-free products including baguettes, large chocolate brownies and a variety of cookies including lemon drop, chocolate chip and triple chocolate chip which are made with dark, white or milk chocolate. All products are made in a 100 percent gluten free environment. The bakery is open daily.

Tazza’s Caffe & Bar, 250 Westminster St., Providence, (401) 421-3300, tazzacaffe.com, has a $5 late-night menu available from 10 p.m. to closing Monday through Friday that includes queso fundido (Spanish style chorizo and onion baked with a five-cheese blend and served with corn tortilla chips); Jamaican jerk chicken tenders; popcorn shrimp; pork pot stickers; grilled Angus cheeseburger; chili cheese dog; Tazza wieners all the way; late night munchies (sweet potato fries), crispy house made potato chips, tortilla chips with fresh pico de gallo and onion rings with roasted red pepper ketchup and sausage, pepper and onion torpedo.

Classes

Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers, 50 Park Plaza, Boston, (617) 654-1906, bostonparkplaza.com, offers Tea 101 — a complimentary seasonal class on everything there is to know about tea — Sunday, Sept. 20, at 1:15 p.m. in the hotel’s Swan Café. This month’s topic is South India Teas from Nilgiri Blue Mountains. Samples and recipes for home use will be supplied.

Save the Date

The Bristol Lions Club hosts its 13th annual Wine and Beer Festival and East Bay Pizza Challenge Friday, Oct. 2, 6:30 to 9 p.m., at Linden Place, 500 Hope St., Bristol. Proceeds will benefit Ronald McDonald House, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, the Rhode Island Food Bank and local food pantries, the Linden Place Restoration Fund, Adopt-a- Family, eyeglasses and exams, Sight Foundation, local libraries and Thanksgiving Baskets. (401) 253-0040.

Wine events

East Side Prescription Center, 632 Hope St., Providence, hosts a Wine Tasting Thursday, Sept. 10, 5 to 7 p.m., with Steven Krohn, director of sales and marketing for Newport Vineyards. The event features three red and three white wines from Newport Vineyards (2008 Newport Riesling, 2008 In The Buff Chardonnay, 2008 Great White, 2007 Pinot Noir, 2007 Cabernet Franc and 2006 Rochambeau) as well as Rhody Coyote, a hard apple cider produced with local apples. (401) 726-3543.

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, 1 West Exchange St., Providence, will host the Rhode Island Community Food Bank as part of its Wine Down Wednesdays charity series Wednesday, Sept. 9, 5 to 7 p.m. The evening features light hors d’oeuvres paired with a selection of red and white wines in the bar. The cost is $25 with proceeds to benefit the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. For tickets, call the food bank, (401) 942-6325.

News

The Edge Café, 199 Wayland Ave., Providence, (401) 490-2227, offers all men and women in uniform a 10 percent discount on all purchases Friday, Sept. 11. Its new hours are Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Pastry chef Laurent Vals, owner of Laurent Vals Handcrafted Chocolates, has created a collection of artisan chocolate candies for Newport Chocolate called the American Artisan Collection. The new line of a dozen filled-chocolate bonbons is designed to complement chef Vals’ premier collection of Handcrafted Chocolates fashioned after a more European tradition. The American Artisan Collection includes flavors such as chocolate and mint, dark chocolate with red wine and autumn spices, dulce de leche, Amaretto and Grand Marnier. It is available for purchase as boxed collections, by the piece and by the pound at the Newport Chocolates storefront location, 82 Williams St., Newport, or online at laurentvalschocolates.com.

gciampa@projo.com