Food File

By PEGGY ANDERS

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 20, 2000

Special events and food tastings

VINOY HOLIDAY HISTORY TOURS: Wednesdays (6:30 p.m. tour, 7:30 p.m. dinner) and Thursdays (6:30 p.m. tour, 7:30 p.m. holiday sweets and beverages) through December, Renaissance Vinoy Resort, 501 Fifth Ave. NE, downtown St. Petersburg. Holiday-decorated gardens, galleries, ballrooms and the Promenade lobby with giant lighted Christmas tree highlight resort tour, followed by either dinner menu of butternut squash soup, capon, veal with garlic mashed potatoes or pan-seared grouper and ending with yule log with raspberry sauce, apple crisp or pumpkin cheesecake or lighter fare of pastries, sweets, cheeses and mulled cider. Wed. dinner tours: $35, Thur. dessert tours: $15. Limited-size tours, call (727) 894-1000, ext. 2878, to reserve.

Wine and beer tastings

BLACKSTONE'S TAPAS CAFE TASTING: 6-8 p.m. Wed., Blackstone's Tapas Cafe, 301 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach. Sample a variety of 6-8 wines complemented with savory tapas appetizers. Free. Call (727) 517-7778.

PEPE'S TASTINGS: 7-9 p.m. Wed., Pepe's Fine Dining and Tapas, 3665 Ulmerton Road, Clearwater. Weekly tasting of four wine selections and appetizers. Free. Call (727) 573-3363.

PIC PAC WINE TASTING: 5-7 p.m. Fri., Pic Pac Fine Wine and Spirits, 6609 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Free wine tasting in new temperature-controlled wine room features different selection of wines each week: (727) 347-0743.

END 0F MILLENIUM TASTING: 6-9 p.m. Dec. 28, Wines by Morrell, 2009 N 22nd St. (corner of 22nd St. and Palm Ave.), Ybor City. Taste the top 25 wines of the millennium, according to New York-based wine merchant, Wines of Morrell. $25. RSVP: (813) 241-8587.

Cooking classes

KIDS' VACATION CLASSES: 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tue. through Dec. 29, Home Gourmet Kitchen Emporium, 471 Main St., Dunedin. Cooking classes for kids ages 8-14 keeps them busy during the holiday shuffle. Topics include baking, barbecue and brunch. $29.99 each or $99.99 for four classes. Call (727) 736-6400 for more information.

NEW YEAR'S EVE GRILLING: 3-4:30 p.m. Dec. 30, Home Gourmet Kitchen Emporium, 471 Main St., Dunedin. Barbecue grill demonstration features grilled party fare such as grilled white pizza with spinach and roasted peppers, quesadillas, chipotle tenderloin steaks. Free with reservations. Call (727) 736-6400.

Fun stuff

GINGERBREAD HOUSE DESIGN CONTEST: 10:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m. today, Don CeSar Beach Resort and Spa, 3400 Gulf Blvd., St. Pete Beach. Watch as contestants use their imagination to decorate and create the most festive gingerbread house in this sixth annual event to benefit the American Red Cross. Reservations and $75 fee required to enter contest. For more information or to reserve, call (727) 898-3111.

Contests

BETTER THAN BUTTER: The winner of Colavita's recipe contest receives 5-day trip for two to Rome and $500, second-place winners receive $250 gift certificates, by sending in the best recipe that replaces traditional butter with more healthful olive oil as an ingredient. Breakfast, lunch or dinner are categories, and creation may be either original recipe or adaptation of a familiar one. Send recipe to Colavita Better-Than-Butter Recipe Contest, P.O. Box 9143, Elizabeth, NJ 07202, or e-mail usa@colavita.com. For complete contest rules, visit online at http://www.colavita.com. Entries must be received by Jan. 31.

WOMEN'S CULINARY CHALLENGE: Aspiring female chefs are asked to submit an original recipe using Alize passion fruit juice and cognac. Best recipe nets the winner the grand prize of a six-week trip and scholarship to Le Cordon Bleu in France and an invitation to apprentice with Diane Forley, executive chef and owner of Verbena in New York. Female chefs over 21 who want to further their education in the culinary arts and with a minimum of one-year experience in culinary school or the restaurant trade should submit an original recipe, along with name, address and phone to Alize Culinary Mentorship Challenge, c/o Kobrand Corp., 134 E 40th St., New York, NY 10016, by Feb. 1, or call (800) 628-2921 for more information.

Food bytes

SAY CHEESE: The original Murray's Cheese shop has been around since 1940 in New York, and now cheese lovers can shop this Greenwich Village institution online. Murray's offers hard-to-find cheeses from all over the world plus gift baskets and the latest in cheese news. Shop Murray's online at http://www.murrayscheese.com or call (888) 692-4339.

Send news of coming events at least two weeks in advance of the publication date to Food File, the Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.

Information from Times wires was used in this column.

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