01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, January 12, 2005

This weekend

Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald, authors of America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking, will offer a program based on their new book, at the Fall River Public Library, 104 North Main St., Fall River, on Sunday, Jan. 16, at 2:30 p.m. The program will include a talk, a slide show, and tasting of sample items from the book. Admission is free. Snow date is Sunday, Jan. 23, 2:30 p.m. For additional information, call Paula Cullen at (508) 324-2700.

Wine notes

Greenvale Vineyards of Portsmouth had two wines -- 2001 Greenvale Chardonnay and the 2001 Skipping Stone White -- earn bronze medals at the 2004 American Wine Society's Commercial Wine Competition in State College, Pa., in November. The competition was organized by the American Wine Society. Entries from the United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Romania, Mexico and Korea were judged against one another.

Greenvale Vineyards' wines have won awards in other recent competitions, including a silver medal for the 2002 Cabernet Franc, a silver medal for the 2001 Greenvale Chardonnay and a bronze medal for the 2001 Vidal Blanc at the VinoChallenge International Wine Competition. The Lone Star State International Wine Competition brought silver medals for the 2001 Cabernet Franc and the 2001 Greenvale Chardonnay and a bronze for the 2001 Skipping Stone White.

Approximately 3,500 cases of wine are produced each year from 20 acres of vines, which include Chardonnay, Vidal Blanc, Cayuga and Cabernet Franc grapes. All of the wines are made from estate-grown grapes. The tasting room is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, with tours daily at 2 p.m. or by appointment. Tastings are free. For more information, call (401) 847-3777 or send an e-mail to information [at] greenvale.com.

Castle Hill Inn & Resort, 590 Ocean Drive, Newport, hosts an educational and interactive wine weekend March 4 to 6 with Conn Creek vineyards. Guests will have several vintages of Conn Creek's limited production wines and will engage in a wine seminar led by Jeff McBride, winemaker, and GM of Conn Creek and Villa Mt. Eden. Packages begin at $900 for double occupancy. Elements of the wine weekend are also offered a la carte. For more information on Castle Hill's wine weekends, call (888) 466-1355 or visit the web site at www.castlehillinn.com.

The Mooring Restaurant, Sayer's Wharf, Newport, hosts a Robert Mondavi wine dinner on Thursday, Jan. 27; Carissa Mondavi is hostess for the event. Guests will enjoy several of Robert Mondavi's wines at a reception beginning at 6:30 p.m. followed by a dinner at 7:30. Carissa Mondavi is senior wine educator at Robert Mondavi Winery and the daughter of Tim Mondavi, winegrower for the winery. The cost is $125. Reserve by Jan. 25 by calling (401) 846-2260.

Coming up

The Abbey Grill in Fall River hosts a four-course Comfort Foods Beer Dinner on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 6:30 p.m. Executive chef Ryan Seborowski has designed each course to complement a different beer from the tanks of Buzzards Bay Brewery in Westport. The dinner will begin with a brief introduction by Buzzards Bay brewmaster Chris Atkinson. He will talk about how he mixes the right hops and grains to create seasonal brews as well as the process of micro-brewing a beer. The cost is $40, inclusive, and reservations can be made by calling the restaurant at (401) 683-0577 or by e-mailing nbrown [at] iicaculinary.com.

Rhode Islanders Steven Keyser, of American Mussel Harvesters of North Kingstown, and Nick Rabar, executive chef for Big Fish, Ten Prime Steak & Sushi and XO Steakhouse of Providence, will compete against the best oyster shuckers in New England at the second annual Mohegan Sun Oyster Open, to be held in conjunction with the Sun WineFest at Mohegan Sun. The competition will be Jan. 23 at 4:30 p.m. Keyser and Rabar will try their luck at opening 24 oysters perfectly in less than three minutes. The competition will adhere to international shucking rules and regulations as defined at the International Oyster Opening Contest in Galway, Ireland.

Lot 401, 44 Hospital St., Providence, will be open for dinner from 5-10 p.m. on Valentine's Day, Monday, Feb. 14, with a five-course chef's tasting menu with optional wine-pairing as well as the regular menu. For reservations, call (401) 490-3980 or go online at www.lot401.com.

What's new

Zooma Bar Ristorante, 245 Atwells Ave., Providence, which occupies the space of the former Eclectic Grill on Federal Hill, will validate all Electic Grill gift certificates, regardless of the amount, for $25 each through March. The restaurant is owned by Joe DeQuattro and is not associated with the former ownership. But the new management made the offer as a way of introducing itself to diners. For more information, call (401) 383-2002.

Restaurant Associates, a New York based caterer, announces a new management team for its operations at The Providence Biltmore Hotel. Albert E. Poirier Jr. is director of operations and Sebastian Porto is executive chef. Both men are native Rhode Islanders. Poirier spent eight years as general manager of The Brown Faculty Club at Brown University before relocating to Memphis, Tenn., where he operated the Summit Club. Porto, a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, was previously executive sous chef and chef de cuisine at the Restaurant Associates operation at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Restaurant Associates also services The Guggenheim, Avery Fisher Hall and The Museum of Modern Art in New York; and The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

The White Horse Tavern, 26 Marlborough St., Newport, has a new winter tavern menu with lighter fare. It is available Sunday through Friday from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the downstairs tavern and upstairs pub, both with fireplace seating. The menu consists of a variety of appetizers, salads and entrees such as prosciutto-wrapped codfish, grilled flatbread pizza, filet mignon, salmon, and burgers. For more information, call (401) 849-3600.

Conte's Restaurant, 578 Greenwich Ave., Warwick, is open Sunday afternoons for dinner from 1 to 7 p.m., with a 50 percent discount on the purchase of the second entree between 1 and 4 p.m. For more information, call (401) 739-8998.

Big Fish, 370 Richmond St., Providence, now offers a 12 percent discount on the total check for those sitting at Table No. 12, the seat the restaurant deems the worst in the house. No. 12 is in a high traffic zone with a view of the bar and the kitchen. For more information, call (401) 751-3474.

On TV

The lineup for this month's edition of Stir It Up includes host Walter Potenza cooking with Brian Condron, executive chef at Smithfield's Trio Cafe, as well as innovative ways to use a kitchen steamer. The show airs Mondays at 9:30 p.m., Wednesdays at 6 p.m., and Monday through Friday at 11 a.m. on Cox Channel 3.

-- GAIL CIAMPA

Food Notes are printed on a space-available basis. Items for Food Notes are best e-mailed to gciampa [at] projo.com. They may also be faxed to (401) 277-8175 or mailed in care of The Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902. The deadline for Wednesday publication is the previous Friday.